Global cyber attacks jump 48% as phishing rises

Global cyber attacks rose 48% year on year in September, according to Check Point Research. Organisations faced an average of 2,803 attacks a week during the month.

That was also 16% higher than in August, signalling heavier pressure on corporate and public sector systems across regions and industries. Check Point's data showed attacks rising alongside increased phishing activity, sustained ransomware incidents and greater exposure of sensitive information through generative artificial intelligence tools.

Education remained the most targeted sector worldwide, with 6,656 weekly attacks per organisation, up 59% from a year earlier and 24% from August.

Telecommunications ranked second at 3,483 weekly attacks per organisation, followed by government at 3,443. The data pointed to continued pressure on sectors with large user populations and complex digital estates.

Singapore recorded 3,603 weekly attacks per organisation, above the global average and 92% higher than a year earlier. The country ranked second in Asia Pacific on this measure.

Within Singapore, financial services faced the highest local attack level at 3,652 weekly attacks per organisation. Business services followed at 3,633, while consumer goods and services recorded 3,446.

Regional picture

Latin America had the highest regional attack volume in September, with 3,813 weekly attacks per organisation. Africa followed at 3,701 and Asia Pacific at 3,593.

Europe posted the fastest annual growth rate, with attacks up 61% from the same month a year earlier. North America recorded a 50% increase.

While the highest volumes were concentrated in Latin America, Africa and Asia Pacific, the pace of deterioration was sharpest in Europe. This suggests the threat environment is both widening geographically and intensifying.

“September's data shows cyber risk increasing in both volume and breadth,” said Omer Dembinsky, Data Research Manager, Check Point Research.

“With attacks rising across every region, phishing becoming more frequent, ransomware remaining elevated and GenAI use expanding alongside sensitive-data exposure, security teams cannot rely on fragmented defences. They need prevention-first protection that combines visibility, control and automation across network, cloud, endpoint, email and AI usage to stop threats before they disrupt operations or expose sensitive information,” Dembinsky said.

GenAI exposure

The data also highlighted risks linked to workplace use of GenAI tools. One in every 39 enterprise GenAI prompts posed a high risk of sensitive data leakage, affecting 89% of organisations that regularly used such tools.

A further 14% of prompts contained potentially sensitive information. The average user generated 131 GenAI prompts during the month, while each organisation used an average of eight tools.

Network and IT infrastructure data appeared in GenAI prompts at 71% of organisations. Financial data featured at 70%, legal and regulatory data at 68%, employee and human resources data at 62%, and personally identifiable information at 60%.

Business services had the highest rate of high-risk GenAI prompt exposure at 4.9%, or one in every 20 prompts. Financial services followed at 4.1%, with healthcare and medical at 3.5%.

Latin America also led on this measure, with a 4% high-risk prompt rate, above the global average of 2.5%. The figures indicate that routine use of AI tools is creating another route for data exposure, especially in sectors that handle regulated or commercially sensitive information.

Phishing and ransomware

Email phishing increased in September, with one in every 91 emails classified as phishing, compared with one in every 112 in August.

Among phishing emails, 81% contained links and 11% contained attachments, making malicious links the main delivery route. North America recorded the highest regional phishing rate at 1.26%, or one in 79 emails.

By sector, associations and nonprofits saw the highest phishing rate at 2.17%. Construction and engineering followed at 2.05%, while real estate, rentals and leasing recorded 1.38%.

Ransomware also remained elevated. A total of 824 ransomware attacks were reported in September, up 53% from the same month a year earlier.

Business services accounted for 31.3% of reported ransomware victims, the largest share of any sector. Consumer goods and services accounted for 15.2%, followed by industrial manufacturing at 11.0%.

North America was the most affected region for ransomware, accounting for 46% of reported incidents. Europe followed at 25%, with Asia Pacific at 17%.

The Gentlemen was the most prevalent ransomware group in September, accounting for 13% of published attacks. Qilin followed with 9%, while Akira was linked to 5%. Another 80 extortion groups also reported attacks during the month.