Cyber risks in 2022: targeted regions and sectors

On a global scale, all companies and administrations, regardless of their sector of activity, are confronted with cyber risks. Digital supply chains and information systems are particularly vulnerable to increasingly sophisticated cyber attacks, with the number and intensity steadily growing.

This increased risk exposure is particularly facilitated by the shift to all-out digital systems, the use of the cloud, the introduction of new technologies and the adoption of hybrid working.

Geopolitical tensions have only exacerbated the risks, which are sometimes driven by the states themselves. As a result, cybersecurity has become a major issue for all economic players.

The level of computer hacking varies according to the sector of activity and the country. With the digitization and interconnection of economic actors, exposure to cyber risks is becoming uncontrollable. Vulnerable entities have easily fallen prey to hackers who have developed sophisticated methods to penetrate them and take over their data.

Cyber risks: sector-based hacking

Cybercrime particularly affects the sectors of health, education, administration, finance, trade and IT services.

The hospital sector, which manages the most expensive and the most wanted data by hackers, is often poorly protected from computer attacks due to a lack of financial resources. This deficiency accounts for the high number of intrusions in this sector.

In the last three years, four major healthcare institutions have been hacked in France with significant leaks of personal data:

• November 2019: Rouen University Hospital,
• February 2021: Dax Hospital Center,
• September 2021: Computer center of the Assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Paris (AP-HP),
• August 2022: Corbeil-Essonnes Hospital.

As in France, several healthcare institutions in the United States and the United Kingdom have also been targeted by hackers.

Education and research, communication and IT activities, sectors respectively ranked 1, 3 and 4, are also undergoing a significant increase in the number of cyber-attacks.

Sectors most targeted by hackers in 2021

Source: Check Point Research (CPR)

Cyber risks: region-based hacking

In terms of the number of attacks, U.S. companies remain the preferred target of hackers. According to statistics from CyberEdge Group, an IT research firm, more than 85% of entities operating in the United States suffered at least one intrusion in 2021, against 80% a year earlier.

In terms of year-on-year growth in the number of attacks, Europe had the highest annual growth rate in 2020-2021 (68%). North America and Asia followed in second and third place, with increases of 61% and 25% respectively. Africa closed the gap with a rate of 13%.

Regions most targeted by hackers in 2021

Source: Check Point Research (CPR)