Financially motivated cybercrime and fraud, in particular ransomware attacks, have risen over the last year and remain a “persistent threat”, Microsoft has said.
The technology giant’s annual Microsoft Digital Defence report said it had seen the number of ransomware attacks more than double over the last 12 months.
Fraudulent emails, texts and voice messages continue to be the most common way that cybercriminals are able to gain access to users’ files, but Microsoft said gaps in cybersecurity because of missed software updates and hackers exploiting known vulnerabilities also continue to be an issue.
The report also said the tech giant had seen the number of online scams spotted had risen five-fold in the last two years, with Microsoft now observing around 100,000 scams a day in 2024.
The ongoing rise of generative AI, and its potential use to cybercriminals, was flagged in the report – with Microsoft warning that both criminals and nation states were experimenting with the technology to spread misinformation and attempt to influence people.
In particular, Microsoft said it…
