Hacktivism and ransomware

Two major trends have dominated the European cyberthreat landscape: the rise of hacktivism (mostly taking the form of DDoS operations) and the relentless growth of ransomware attacks. Hacktivism (linked mainly to geopolitical tensions) expanded significantly in 2023. New groups have emerged, each bringing specific tactics and targets, making the task of cybersecurity professionals around the world considerably more complex. Their actions, motivated by various ideological reasons, have led to an increased need for robust security measures in all sectors.

On the other hand, ransomware attacks have become a major feature of the cyber threat landscape in 2023. This year, ransomware incidents have multiplied and show no signs of slowing down.

In figures

• Ransomware attacks: In 2023, we recorded a total of 120 ransomware incidents, marking a 24% increase on the previous year. This increase underlines the growing threat posed by ransomware, as cybercriminals continue to refine their tactics and target vulnerable systems.
• National incidents: At national level, we observed 5 major incidents. These events, although fewer in number (the figure is the same as last year), often have far-reaching implications, affecting not only individual organisations but entire sectors.
• Minor incidents: The number of minor incidents has increased significantly, with 46 incidents recorded, a remarkable 142% increase compared with 2022. The increase in these attacks mainly concerns companies or organisations without any direct impact on the country's operations (without prejudging any possible financial damage).
• Coordinated vulnerability disclosures: We facilitated 98 coordinated vulnerability disclosures in 2023. These figures represent our ongoing commitment to proactive security and working with organisations to identify and address vulnerabilities before they can be exploited.

The best defence: prevention

In terms of preventing and actively combating cyberthreats, the Centre for Cybersecurity Belgium (CCB) has won the Publica Awards for its "Spear Warning" initiative, which in 2023 resulted in no fewer than 9,543 warnings being sent to organisations about vulnerabilities detected in their systems.

For the general public, the suspicious@safeonweb.be address (to which almost 10 million messages were sent) redirected 1,200,000 fraudulent links.