Trend Micro 2022 Midyear Cybersecurity Report: Defending The Expanding Attack Surface

In the beginning of 2022, many companies around the world began calling for most, if not all, of their workforce to return to the office on a full-time basis, a phenomenon aptly referred to as “the Great Return.” Meanwhile, some companies embraced permanent hybrid work or remote setups. This diffused labor pool, together with a widened digital attack surface, has made it increasingly difficult for cybersecurity teams to keep different work structures secure — a susceptibility thread that cybercriminals are quick to pull on to launch critical attacks and exploit vulnerabilities.

We observed how malicious actors favored ransomware-as-a-service (RaaS) methods for faster deployments and bigger payouts. They also used relatively new ransomware families in high-profile attacks and increasingly targeted Linux-based systems with attacks. Ransomware operators also resorted to both novel and tried-and-tested methods to attack cloud environments.

In our midyear security roundup, we highlight the most significant security stories that made a considerable impact on the threat landscape in the first half of the year.