The Crowdstrike Global Threat Report 2021 highlights that eCrime attacks made up 79% of all intrusions (via hands-on-keyboard activity) uncovered by the company. Nation-state adversaries infiltrated networks to steal valuable data seeking COVID-19 vaccine research; threat actors have improved strategies to evade detection and camouflage in networks.

CrowdStrike’s Global Threat Report 2021 headline findings include:

1. The healthcare industry will continue to face significant threats from criminal groups as CrowdStrike Intelligence confirmed 18 Big Game Hunting enterprise ransomware families infected 104 healthcare organisations in 2020

2. Adversaries from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea will be motivated to enhance cyber operations in 2021, due to COVID-19 and a resulting food shortage

3. Data extortion techniques will continue to accelerate through the introduction of Dedicated Leak Sites (DLS)

4. China will focus on supply chain compromises and the targeting of key western verticals in support of the 14th Five Year Plan and the COVID-19 vaccine including academic, healthcare, technology, manufacturing and aerospace

The CrowdStrike Global Threat Report 2021 introduces a new eCrime index (ECX). The ECX displays the strength, volume and sophistication of the cyber-criminal market, and is updated weekly in real-time based on 18 unique indicators of criminal activity.