Those of us who have worked in cybersecurity for many years often start to think we’ve “seen it all.” We haven’t. This year’s CrowdStrike® Global Threat Report provides clear evidence of that.

Consider the dark turn in cybercrime toward preying on schools, municipal departments and our other chronically understaffed and overburdened public institutions. This is different from targeting large government entities and corporations, many of whom have resigned themselves to being targeted by cyber predators and have the opportunity to try to protect themselves from that onslaught. It’s a different matter entirely when the targets are schoolchildren, or just ordinary people trying to go about their daily lives.

This merciless ransomware epidemic will continue, and worsen, as long as the practice remains lucrative, and relatively easy and risk-free. We’ve developed a platform designed to stop ransomware for our customers, and we’ve worked hard to make it easy and affordable — even for budget-constrained institutions like our public school systems. As more organizations around the world deploy next-generation platforms like CrowdStrike Falcon® that can prevent these threats, the criminal element will be forced to redirect its efforts elsewhere.

A Rise in Disruptive Attacks By Nation-States

While criminals are relatively predictable in their tendency to always choose the path of least resistance, the activities of nation-states are frequently more relentless and sophisticated – and as a result, more challenging for cyberdefenders. This year’s threat report uncovers numerous new tactics, techniques and procedures (TTPs) that state-affiliated threat actors are employing to accomplish their goals. Of concern here is the widening variety of goals these highly capable adversaries may seek to achieve. Along with the more traditional objectives of espionage and surveillance have been added new tasks, such as sowing widespread disruption and discord among individuals, institutions and even whole countries and populations, all in pursuit of political and economic gains.

Information to Help Maximize Your Cyberdefense

If there’s one thing this year’s Global Threat Report really brings home, it’s that there’s never been a better time to get involved in cybersecurity. The stakes are high, and rising every day. Those that read and share this report are helping to educate themselves and others to better protect themselves and their communities, both at work and at home.

Download your copy of the CrowdStrike 2020 Global Threat Report.

Additional Resources