The RansomHub group dominated ransomware attacks in Spain in 2024, according to Check Point

Nov. 21 (Portaltic/EP) –

The ransomware group RansomHub It is positioned as the dominant one in the panorama of cyber attacks registered in Spain and represents 27 percent of the victims in this country, which has been one of the main targets for this type of ‘malware’ within Europe, according to Check Point.

The company has analyzed the cybersecurity outlook in 2024where generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) has had a strong impact both on the attack strategies carried out by cybercriminals and when implementing solutions against these attacks.

In this sense, Check Point has pointed out that generative AI (GenAI) has been seen during this period “as an enemy, ally and victim”, because “it has transformed cybersecurity into a double-edged sword”, according to explained in a meeting with the media.

Firstly, because cybercriminals are using this technology to design more sophisticated attacks, generate and debug code more easily, and discover security vulnerabilities. zero day in the systems and exploit them.

It is also being used as a tool in defense work although, for the moment “is not being the panacea”, Although it is helping to detect cyber threats, Check Point has insisted that they have been using other machine learning and deep learning technologies for years in their cybersecurity functions.

Despite the use of these tools, cyberattacks continue to grow and reached record numbers in the third quarter of 2024, with an average of 1,876 weekly attacks per company, that is, an increase of 75 percent compared to the same period in 2023 according to a company study.

In this period, Europe has been the target of a reputed malicious campaign and has seen growth of 86 percent. In Spain, specifically, during this quarter there were 1,775 weekly attacks, that is, an increase of 100 percent compared to the same period of the previous year.

The statistics also show that the ‘ransomware’ continues to be a challenge of great magnitude, with 1,230 incidents publicly declared by extortion groups and, this time, Europe has been the second most punished region, with 24 percent of the reported incidents.

Based on data recorded in Spain, this country was one of the main targets for this type of ‘malware’ in September 2024, where the RansomHub group dominated the attacks, representing 27 percent of the country’s victims.

On the other hand, the company has also recalled that this has been the year of Network and Information Security Directive (NIS2), which came into force in October and which has marked “a milestone” in cybersecurity requirements for companies operating in the European Union (EU).

To align with this regulation, which has the objective of guaranteeing the security of the networks and information systems of these countries, Check Point has established strategic alliances with firms such as Nvidia, with which it has developed Check Point AI Cloud Protect, to protect AI infrastructures in the cloud.

Infinity AI Copilot, created with Microsoft, improves security management by 90 percent, while Check Point Quantum IoT Protect Nano Agent, developed with Heights Cyber ​​Dome, is designed to protect home networks using IoT technology.

CHALLENGES FOR 2025

Looking ahead to 2025, the cybersecurity firm has explained that, as the new year progresses and new technologies are adopted, AI-powered attacks, quantum threats and Cloud vulnerabilities will redefine the landscape of digital threats.

Thus, it is expected that in the coming months there will be an increase in advanced attacks enabled by AI, which will allow small groups of attackers to launch large-scale campaigns. In this sense, Check Point has indicated that cybercriminals will focus on attacking critical supply chains, using enhanced phishing with AI and ‘deepfake’ to bypass defenses.

On the other hand, the advance of quantum computing is expected to force industries to adopt secure quantum encryption to protect their information, while growth in IoT devices is expected, reaching 32 billion units, according to another analysis by Morefield. . For this reason, organizations must adopt ‘Zero Trust’ architectures, to mitigate associated risks.

Along these lines, Check Point has announced a ‘software’ solution for security of the Quantum CloudGuard network, Quantum Firewall Software R82which incorporates 50 new capabilities in collaboration with ThreatCloud AI and combines the power of AI and advanced machine learning to protect against complex threats such as zero-day malware, phishing and security system exploits. domain names (DNS).

It should be noted that this tool can also be combined with GenAI Security Solution, designed to guarantee the safe adoption of generative AI; and Infinity External Risk Management (ERM), which monitors and prevents external threats in real time.

Finally, the cybersecurity firm has said that the growing adoption of AI and hybrid cloud environments will lead to the convergence of the functions of those responsible for systems and ICT (CIOfor its acronym in English) and the directors of information security of the organizations (CISO).