Researchers found that Russian actors outsourced cyberespionage operations to criminal groups targeting Ukraine by using commodity malware to compromise military devices in June 2024.
Iranian state-sponsored hackers stole Israeli dating website data and offered to remove specific profiles for a fee, while North Korean actors developed new ransomware, FakePenny, to exfiltrate data from aerospace and defense organizations for intelligence gathering and financial gain.
Cyber threats mostly originated from a few countries: the US, UK, Israel, Ukraine, UAE, and Taiwan. Russia and Iran spread propaganda globally, targeting Ukraine and NATO, where Russia’s goal was to gather intelligence on Western policies towards the war.
Chinese and Iranian threat actors maintained consistent targeting patterns, with China focusing on Taiwan and Southeast Asia and Iran targeting Israel, the US, and Gulf countries, as Iran’s targeting intensity increased after the Israel-Hamas war.
Researcher reported a significant increase in ransomware attacks last year, but fewer attacks reached the encryption stage. Social engineering, identity compromise, and exploiting vulnerabilities in public-facing applications or unpatched systems remain the primary initial access techniques.
Tech scams have surged dramatically, with Microsoft observing a 400% increase in daily frequency from 2022 to 2024. Malicious infrastructure is highly transient, often disappearing within two hours, demanding agile cybersecurity solutions to combat this evolving threat.
Threat actors are leveraging AI to enhance their targeting and influence operations. While their experiments with AI-generated content have not yet proven effective in swaying audiences, their continued exploration of this technology poses a growing threat.
Artificial intelligence is becoming an increasingly valuable asset in the field of cybersecurity, significantly accelerating the time it takes to respond to threats.
By automating the analysis of numerous alerts, malicious code files, and their potential impact, AI is empowering security professionals to proactively address vulnerabilities and strengthen overall defenses.
Microsoft is committed to reducing cyberattacks through its Secure Future Initiative, which aims to deny intrusions and impose consequences on attackers, collaborating with other organizations to combat the rising number of online threats.
To deter harmful cyberattacks, governments must impose meaningful consequences for violations of international norms, while the private sector must enhance cybersecurity defenses.
In order to level the playing field and prevent assailants from gaining an advantage, both the public and private sectors need to demonstrate a commitment to and attention to detail.