IBM X-Force Threat Intelligence Index

Overview

Cyber threat intelligence can help organizations analyze risks, allocate resources, and understand threats relevant to your industry and geography. The annual IBM X-Force® Threat Intelligence Index sheds light on recent trends defining the threat landscape. Based on data collected from real attacks, this report offers recommendations to help you bolster your security strategy for the future. Take a look at some of the key findings.

Key findings

Inside the 2021 report

The #1 threat was ransomware

Ransomware was the top threat type, comprising 23% of attacks. Sodinokibi (REvil) ransomware alone reaped a conservative profit estimate of USD 123 million.

Manufacturing was the second most-attacked industry

Right behind the finance and insurance industry, manufacturing moved to second place in 2020, up from eighth in 2019.

35% of attacks leveraged vulnerabilities

Scan-and-exploit was #1 initial attack vector, surpassing phishing, the top attack vector in 2019.

COVID-19 provided opportunity for threat actors

The global pandemic gave sophisticated attackers fresh targets, including organizations involved in the vaccine supply chain.

Cybercriminals are moving to the cloud

With pandemic cloud spending up and Linux currently powering 90% of cloud workloads, attackers see the benefits of open-source malware.

Europe was the biggest geographic target

North America (previously the top target), Asia, Europe, Middle East and Africa, and Central and South America all trailed Europe in number of attacks in 2020.