14.5% increase in cybersecurity incidents in 2021

Ljubljana – A total of 3,177 cybersecurity incidents were recorded in Slovenia in 2021, an increase of 14.5% compared to 2020, according to a report released by the National Computer Emergency Response Team (SI-CERT). This year has been a year of numerous information disclosure vulnerabilities, most notably a vulnerability in the supply chain.

Phishing attacks again stood out among reported incidents, increasing by 37% to 950. The majority of incidents were malicious code injections, at 306.

At the same time, the trend of cybercriminals targeting businesses has continued since last year.

The largest monetary loss of just over €123,000 was recorded in the case of business communication intrusion.

Damage caused by cryptocurrency investment scams is also on the rise, with the maximum loss amounting to €100,000 and the average loss amounting to approximately €28,000.

Last year was a year of many information disclosure vulnerabilities, especially in supply chains.

SI-CERT head Gorazd Božič said in the report:

In March 2020, it invaded the network of the US manufacturer SolarWinds, and last year pointed out an information leakage vulnerability in the Microsoft Exchange server.

The entire network of EU Cybersecurity Response Centers ended 2021 on high alert as vulnerabilities in the Log4j logging tool declared a growing threat to the security of networks and information systems.

While the Internet Armageddon didn’t happen as some predicted, Bojic says 2021 has been an eye-opener in terms of cybersecurity management as digitalization accelerates.

Founded in 1995, SI-CERT provides expertise in incident investigation and coordination, technical advice on a variety of intrusions, and alerts network administrators and the public to current threats in cyberspace. Its activities are funded by the Government Information Security Agency, the Slovenian cybersecurity agency.