Cyberattacks Doubled in Just Two Years, Authentication Provider Says

ThreatMetrix Inc., a provider of digital-identity and authentication services, reports that its network detected and stopped 144 million cyberattacks in the second quarter, a 100% increase from 2015’s second quarter.

ThreatMetrix says its Digital Identity Network from April through June also stopped 300 million bot attacks in which hackers take control of computers, unbeknownst to their owners, for fraudulent purposes.

Those unsettling facts come from San Jose, Calif.-based ThreatMetrix’s latest analysis of cyberattacks detected by its global network used by businesses to protect e-commerce, financial transactions, communications, and other legitimate online activities. The network analyzes nearly 2 billion transactions per month, with nearly 47% now coming from mobile devices, the company says.

“Mobile transactions are starting to be attacked more, particularly new-account creations and payments, as fraudsters turn their attention towards the growing prevalence of mobile commerce,” the report says.

The report notes that the greater volume of fraudulent attempts at opening new financial accounts is “driven by the increased availability and low cost of stolen identities in the wild, as fraudsters buy and trade stolen identity data to create near-perfect identities to use in large-scale attacks.”

The United States, United Kingdom, Germany, and Italy were the leading countries of origin for cyberattacks in the second quarter, but the largest increase in attacks came from Pakistan, the report says. Bangladesh and Vietnam also posted big increases as attack origin locations.