Terrible report, cyber attacks shook Turkey

According to data obtained from WatchGuard Threat Laboratory, malware attacks in Turkey in 2024 decreased by 99.97% compared to the previous year, decreasing to 235,191. There were 27 malware attacks per hour, and most of these attacks were malware of the “Gen:Heur.Mint.Zard.24” type. Network-based attacks, which occurred 118 per hour, increased by 2,340.66% to 1,037,769. WatchGuard Turkey and Greece Country Manager Yusuf Evmez emphasized that although malware attacks have decreased significantly, cyber threats have not ended and that companies and individual users must constantly keep their security measures up to date.

WatchGuard, a global leader in the field of integrated cyber security, shared important data about cyber attacks occurring in Turkey in 2024. According to the report of WatchGuard Threat Laboratory, malware attacks in 2024 decreased by 99.97% compared to the previous year, decreasing to 235,191. Network-based attacks increased by 2,340.66% to 1,037,769. WatchGuard Turkey and Greece Country Manager Yusuf Evmez emphasized that despite this significant decrease in malware attacks, companies and individual users should not neglect cyber security measures.

644 Malware Attacks Happen Every Day!

According to the report prepared by WatchGuard Threat Center with data from UTM device Fireboxes, there will be 644 malware attacks every day and 27 every hour in Turkey in 2024. According to Yusuf Evmez, who stated that most of the attacks were malware originating from Gen:Heur.Mint.Zard.24 and Truva.Linux.General.174445, although malware attacks showed a nice decrease of 99.97% compared to last year, cyber It is of great importance to constantly stay up to date against threats and take strong defensive measures.

Cyber ​​Attacks Broke a Record in March 2024

A record number of 42,669 in March 2024 While malware attacks were recorded, 3% of these attacks were zero-day attacks. Stating that traditional protection methods cannot provide sufficient protection against such attacks that can cause great damage to information systems and critical data, Yusuf Evmez recommends companies to adopt advanced security technologies.

Network Attacks Increased by 2,340.66%!

Nowadays, while many institutions move their data to networks, cyber attackers who take advantage of this situation and want to obtain data are infiltrating networks and launching powerful attacks. According to the report prepared by WatchGuard Threat Center with data from UTM device Fireboxes, there will be 2,843 malware attacks every day, 118 every hour and 2 every minute in Turkey in 2024. Pointing out that network attacks increased by 2,340.66% to 1,037,769 in 2024, the majority of these attacks are unknown and have not been encountered before, and the third most common network attack is “WEB Directory Traversal -2.u”. Yusuf Evmez emphasizes that cyber attackers take advantage of every weakness and security gap in networks to achieve their goals.

“Attackers Target Large Numbers of Accounts with Password Spray Technique”

WatchGuard Turkey and Greece Senior Sales Engineer Alper Onarangil said, “In the increase in cyber attacks observed in March 2024, we saw that attackers targeted many accounts with the “password spraying” technique. In this method, attempts are made to automatically log in to more than one account with frequently used passwords. In particular, threat actors such as China-based Storm-0940 access sensitive data by using the information they obtain with this technique. Institutions’ inadequate password policies and lack of basic security measures such as multi-factor authentication play an important role in the success of these attacks. Thanks to the automation tools developed by attackers, attacks have become faster and more effective. This shows that institutions need to increase their cybersecurity investments and focus especially on password management and authentication processes. “It is critical for security teams to have advanced attack detection and response (EDR) capabilities to create a stronger defense against such threats.” made his statements.