Attacks on Web Applications Spike, Telecommunications and Education are the Most Targeted Verticals in the Third Quarter of 2023

Ahead of Black Hat MEA in Riyadh, 14-16 November 2023, Cisco is sharing insights into key cybersecurity trends that emerged throughout Q3 2023 (July - September). The findings are based on analysis from Cisco Talos, one of the most trusted threat intelligence research teams on the globe, and show a notable increase in attacks against web applications, and a slight decrease in ransomware attacks.

Threats to web applications accounted for 30 percent of the engagements Cisco Talos Incident Response (Talos IR) responded to in the third quarter of 2023, marking a significant increase compared to Q2, where web application attacks accounted for only 8% of engagements.

Representing a slight decrease from Q2, ransomware accounted for only 10% of engagements (down from 17 percent, while Cisco's Talos Incident Response team also observed the emergence of the BlackByte ransomware group's new variant for the first time this quarter, alongside the previously encountered LockBit ransomware.

Telecommunications and education were the most targeted verticals, each accounting for 20% of the total number of incident response engagements, closely followed by public administration and manufacturing.

Under the theme of “If it's connected, you're protected” Cisco is participating at Black Hat MEA 2023 as a strategic sponsor, showcasing its latest security innovations. 

Salman Faqeeh, Managing Director, Cisco Saudi Arabia, commented: "The cyberthreat landscape is evolving rapidly, yet by being laser-focused on the latest research and innovations created to address today’s risks, we can shape the future of cybersecurity. At Cisco, we believe that a modern security approach requires a combination of industry partnerships, intelligence sharing and collaborations. Black Hat MEA is strategically offering the right platform for industry leaders to align and discuss the way to boost security resilience in Saudi Arabia and beyond.” 

This year at Black Hat MEA, visitors will be able to engage with subject matter experts at Cisco’s stand and discover demos for the latest range of security innovations, empowering businesses to defend themselves against cyber threats.

Salman added: “Security has never been more critical for our customers, and we have lately announced our plans to establish a data center for cloud-delivered security in Saudi Arabia, to help customers protect their users, infrastructure, and investments against threat actors.” 

Cisco will demonstrate its latest security technologies, including Secure Connectivity with SASE, Zero Trust with Duo, Cisco Multicloud Defense, Extended Detection and Response (XDR), Network Security and Cisco Security Services. Additionally, Cisco’s experts will share insights on topics including threat intelligence, recent trends in cyber risks, responding to attacks, and how to enable secure access for a remote workforce.

As part of Cisco’s program of events at Black Hat MEA, Jeff Scheaffer, the Vice-President for Product Management for Security at Cisco, will deliver a keynote speech on the company’s three-fold security strategy: simplify security, prevent attacks, and ensure the secure use of large language models.

Cisco will be present at booth H3. C50 at Riyadh Front Exhibition & Conference Center, on 14-16 November 2023. 

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