Phishing Attack Emerges as a Primary Threat Vector in X-Force Threat Intelligence Index 2022

IBM published its tenth X-Force Threat Intelligence Index last week unveiling phishing attacks as the primary threat vector in the past year, with manufacturing emerging as the most targeted sector. IBM security analysts spotted a 33% surge in attacks caused by vulnerability exploitation of Log4Shell, a point of entry that malicious actors relied on more than any other to launch their assaults in 2021, representing the cause of 44% of ransomware attacks. 

The 2022 Threat Intelligence Index was compiled from billions of data points, ranging from network and endpoint detection devices, incident response engagements, phishing kits, and domain name tracking. It was revealed that threat actors employed phishing in 41% of attacks, surging from 2020 when it was responsible for 33% of attacks. Interestingly, click rates for the average targeted phishing campaign surged nearly three-fold, from 18% to 53% when phone phishing (vishing) was also employed by malicious actors. 

The X-Force report highlights the record-high number of vulnerabilities unearthed in 2021, including a vulnerability in the Kaseya monitoring software that was exploited by REvil in July, and the Log4j (or Log4Shell) vulnerability in Apache’s popular logging library. Cybercriminals from across the globe were so quick to exploit Log4j that it occupied the number two spot on the X-Force top 10 lists of most exploited vulnerabilities in 2021, despite only being discovered in December last year. The top vulnerability was a flaw in Microsoft Exchange that allowed attackers to bypass authentication to impersonate an administrator.&n

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