Cyber incidents in IT sector surge, says Kaspersky report

The latest report from Kaspersky's Managed Detection and Response (MDR) service reveals a marked shift in the distribution of high-severity cyber incidents across various industrial sectors in 2024.

The report indicates a significant reduction in high-severity cyber incidents with direct human involvement for government and development industries. This decrease contrasts sharply with an increase in incidents observed within the food, IT, telecom, and industrial sectors, with the IT sector experiencing the majority of these severe incidents.

The annual Managed Detection and Response analyst report offers insights into incident detection, their nature, and distribution across different industries and geographic locations. It further highlights common tactics and techniques employed by attackers over the past year, grounded in the incident analysis conducted by Kaspersky MDR.

In contrast to 2023, mass media, development, and telecoms industries witnessed a rise in incident numbers. However, a distinction emerges when focusing on high-severity incidents involving direct human intervention. During 2024, Kaspersky's MDR team discovered that IT accounted for 23% of these incidents, with government and industrial sectors each making up 18%.

The report emphasises the drop in high-severity incidents within the government and development sectors, whilst noting an increase in such incidents within the food sector. There was also a noticeable rise in the industrial sector, with slight increases in the retail, IT, and telecoms sectors. Despite the mass media sector experiencing a spike in overall incidents, this did not correspond to a rise in high-severity incidents, suggesting successful mitigation efforts that prevented these incidents from escalating beyond medium severity.

Sergey Soldatov, Head of Security Operations Center at Kaspersky, commented on these findings: "In 2024, we revealed a shift in the landscape of cyber threats, with high-severity incidents increasingly concentrated in the food sector, underscoring the necessity for cybersecurity measures in this area."

Soldatov said, "While the overall number of incidents surged in sectors like telecom and mass media, the resilience demonstrated in swiftly detecting and neutralising potential threats highlights the importance of proactive measures. As attackers refine their tactics, organisations must adapt by investing in robust cybersecurity solutions that combine advanced technologies with expert oversight."

Kaspersky advises organisations looking to bolster their cyber defenses to invest in comprehensive cybersecurity measures. Recommendations include implementing managed security services such as Managed Detection and Response and Incident Response, as well as hiring qualified professionals to manage these systems. These services cover the entire incident management process from threat identification to constant protection and remediation, competent in guarding against elusive cyberattacks, and providing expert analysis and support.