New CyberCube report advises on potential public sector attacks on government, election infrastructure; highlights eight under-secured industry sectors.
Government agencies and officials need to increase their cybersecurity measures, enhance election integrity safeguards, and collaborate with experts to mitigate potential attacks on the public sector that target government and election infrastructure, warns CyberCube in a new report. The company provides cyber risk analytics for the insurance industry.
In addition to warning of these potential attacks, “Global Threat Outlook, H1 2024” highlights eight undersecured target sectors that are vulnerable to criminal ransomware and extortion tactics, as well as catastrophe events. The industries are telecoms, IT, education, retail, arts & entertainment, finance, services, and healthcare. The most exposed industry tracked by CyberCube is healthcare.
“With the U.S. presidential elections, the public sector becomes an increasingly attractive target for malicious actors seeking to sow chaos and undermine faith in democracy,” said William Altman, CyberCube’s Cyber Threat Intelligence Principal. “Moreover, around 64 countries plus the European Union will hold national elections this year, involving nearly half of the world’s population. The same cyber threat actors attempting to meddle in the U.S. presidential election may also be active in other countries. Given the potential for significant attacks, bolstering defenses in the public sector is paramount in 2024 and beyond.”
Sectors such as banking and aviation are still exposed and targeted, but according to CyberCube they have better cybersecurity. Mining and agriculture remain opportunity sectors for cyber (re)insurers as these sectors are less exposed to cyber threats relative to other industries, yet they still maintain a high level of security.
Additionally, the report includes an analysis of state-nexus cyber threat actors, including those in Russia, Iran, and China. (Re)insurers can model realistic cyber disasters considering state-nexus cyber activities using CyberCube’s Portfolio Manager.
“CyberCube foresees an escalation in the attacks perpetrated by state-nexus threat actors targeting critical infrastructure,” commented Richard DeKorte, CyberCube’s Cyber Security Consultant. “Specifically, Iranian state-sponsored threat actors are likely to target critical infrastructure opportunistically. Russian and Chinese state actors are expected to strategically position themselves to disrupt infrastructure in sectors crucial to the national economy and security of the U.S. and its allies.”
Download the full research report here.
Read more about business resilience and continuity at Continuity Insights.
