The number of cyberattacks against large companies rose by 40% last year, according to a new report, which finds hackers have honed spear-phishing and fraudulent email campaigns to focus attacks on larger targets with more precision.
Five out of six companies employing more than 2,500 people were targets of cyber attacks last year, according to Symantec’s annual Internet Security Threat Report. Even as the number of attacks surged, analysts found that the hackers were waging more efficient campaigns, deploying 14% less email to infiltrate an organization’s network.
The authors estimate that in addition to targeted attacks, non-targeted malware continues to proliferate online at a rate of 1 million new threats a day.
More Must-Reads From TIME
- What We Know So Far About the Deadly Earthquakes in Turkey and Syria
- Beyoncé's Album of the Year Snub Fits Into the Grammys' Long History of Overlooking Black Women
- How the U.S. Shot Down the Alleged Chinese Spy Balloon
- Effective Altruism Has a Toxic Culture of Sexual Harassment and Abuse, Women Say
- Inside Bolsonaro's Surreal New Life as a Florida Man—and MAGA Darling
- 'Return to Office' Plans Spell Trouble for Working Moms
- 8 Ways to Read More Books—and Why You Should
- Why Aren't Movies Sexy Anymore?
- How Logan Paul's Crypto Empire Fell Apart