Work from home mandate during the pandemic is another cause for the large number of cyberattacks, Verizon said   | Photo Credit: Reuters

Cyberattack on organisations worldwide jumped 29% during the first half of 2021 as compared to the same period in the previous year, according to cybersecurity firm Checkpoint.

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Checkpoint’s report titled ‘Cyber Attack Trends: 2021 Mid-Year Report’ highlights dominance of ransomware attacks which has increased 93% in the first half of the year compared to the same period a year ago. The Asia-Pacific region was among the most affected with 1,338 weekly attacks per organisation in the first half of 2021.

Some industry leaders believe that rapid digitalisation is one of the major reasons for high exposure and cybersecurity attacks.

"Digital technologies are setting the pace of transformation for major industries. While this is setting them up for growth, companies must not ignore a major implication of this revolution – increased cybersecurity risk," Vats Srivatsan, president and chief operating officer of ColorTokens, a cybersecurity firm said to The Hindu.

He also noted that the banking, manufacturing, retail, and healthcare ecosystems heavily rely on partners, suppliers, and third-party vendors who access enterprise networks to conduct several of their activities. Hence any vulnerability in their cybersecurity infrastructure could be a security risk for enterprises.

Another cause for the large number of cyberattacks is the work from home mandate that various organisations follow due the pandemic.

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"Many businesses have relied heavily on employees using personal devices to keep operations running, with work from home moving from an option to a rule almost overnight. As a result, this led some to cut corners, including security," Chris Novak, Global director of the Threat Research Advisory Center at Verizon Business Group, a communication tech provider said to The Hindu.

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