The 2021 edition of the Threat Landscape report by the European Union Agency for Cybersecurity, ENISA, highlights a surge in cybercrime, mainly driven by ransomware and cryptojacking attacks.

Ransomware ranks as a prime threat for the reporting period April 2020 to July 2021. The cybersecurity threat landscape has grown in terms of sophistication of attacks, complexity and impact. This trend is spurred by an ever-growing online presence, the transitioning of traditional infrastructures to online solutions, advanced ­interconnectivity, and the exploitation of new ­features of emerging technologies. Supply-chain attacks rank highly among prime threats because of the significant potential they have in inducing catastrophic cascading effects.

The 9 top threats: 9 threat groups were identified due to their prominence in the reporting period. They include ransomware; malware; cryptojacking; e-mail related threats; threats against data; threats against availability and integrity; disinformation – misinformation; non-malicious threats; and supply-chain attacks.

Key trends: The COVID-19 crisis has created possibilities for attackers, who used the pandemic as a dominant lure in campaigns for email attacks for instance. Monetisation appears to be the main driver of such activities. The techniques that threat actors used are numerous. The following non-exhaustive list presents some of the most prevalent threats identified in the report: Ransomware as a Service (RaaS)-type business models; multiple extortion ransomware schemes; Business Email Compromise (BEC); Phishing-as-a-Service (PhaaS); and Disinformation-as-a-Service (DaaS) business model.

Three types of threats receive particular attention in the report: ransomware, cryptojacking infections, and misinformation and disinformation.

Ransomware has been the prime threat during the reporting period, with several high profile and highly publicised incidents. The significance and impact of the threat of ransomware is also evidenced by a series of related policy initiatives in the European Union (EU) and worldwide. Compromise through phishing e-mails and brute-forcing on Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) services remain the two most common infection vectors. The occurrence of triple extortion schemes also increased strongly during 2021 and cryptocurrency remains the most common pay-out method for threat actors.

Cryptojacking or hidden cryptomining is a type of cybercrime where a criminal secretly uses a victim’s computing power to generate cryptocurrency. With the proliferation of cryptocurrencies and their ever-increasing uptake by the wider public, an increase in corresponding cybersecurity incidents has been observed. Cryptocurrency remains the most common pay-out method for threat actors.

Misinformation and disinformation are for the first time appearing in the ENISA threat landscape report. Disinformation and misinformation campaigns are on the rise as a result of the increased online presence due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which has led to a high use of social media platforms and online media. Disinformation and misinformation campaigns are frequently used in hybrid attacks to foster doubt or create confusion, therefore reducing the overall perception of trust as a consequence and damaging this major proponent of cybersecurity in the process.

Threat actors: The report is focused on four categories of cybersecurity threat actors – state-sponsored actors, cybercriminals, hacker-for-hire actors, and hacktivists. Cyber threat actors are an integral component of the threat landscape. They are entities aiming to carry out a malicious act by taking advantage of existing vulnerabilities, with the intent to do harm to their victims. Understanding how threat actors think and act, what their motivations and goals are, is an important step towards a stronger cyber incident response. Monitoring the latest developments with respect to the tactics and techniques used by threat actors to achieve their objectives is crucial for an efficient defence in today’s cybersecurity ecosystem. Such threat assessment allows us to prioritise security controls and devise an adequate strategy based on the potential impact and likelihood of threat materialisation.

The ENISA Threat Landscape 2021 report is the annual report of the EU Agency for Cybersecurity, ENISA, on the state of the cybersecurity threat landscape. The 9th edition was published in October 2021.

Further information:
ENISA Threat Landscape Report 2021 –
https://www.enisa.europa.eu/publications/enisa-threat-landscape-2021

The 5G PPP Technology Board and the 5G IA Verticals Task Force have published a White Paper on “Empowering Vertical Industries through 5G Networks – Current Status and Future Trends” (20 August 2020). This white paper summarises the progress and results produced by the projects of the 5G PPP programme in regard to the development of innovative 5G network services for vertical industries. It analyses 5G requirements and the business case for the use of 5G by verticals. Furthermore, the report presents exemplary use cases from eleven vertical sectors and identifies key 5G features that have been used to meet the specified requirements.

©Adobe Stock

The White Paper is relevant for defining future research and innovation activities beyond 5G. The outcomes of the 5G PPP will serve as the basis for the Smart Networks and Services (SNS) programme, which aims to organise the European research and innovation activities for the evolution of communication networks in the timeframe until 2028. One of the main objectives of the SNS programme is the full digitisation of vertical industries.

Further information

White Paper on 5G for verticals – https://zenodo.org/record/3698113

Between 2018 and 2019, the global sales value of professional service robots increased by 32% to 11.2 billion US dollars. These figures have been presented by the International Federation of Robotics (IFR) in its “World Robotics – Service Robots 2020” report.

Medical robots accounted for 47% of the total professional service robot turnover in 2019. This was mainly driven by robotic surgery systems, which are the most expensive type of medical robotics. By 2022, medical robot sales have the potential to more than double by reaching 11.3 billion US dollars. About 90% of medical robots are from American and European suppliers. The market value of logistics robots sold or leased rose by 110% to 1.9 billion US dollars. Almost all of the logistics turnover was generated with robots for indoor use. Autonomous mobile robots have initially been used in warehouses. Due to the digitisation of production, they are now also part of smart factories. Thus, the IFR considers a continued strong annual turnover growth of 40% or more for logistics robots possible.

The trending Robotics-as-a-Service (RaaS) business models lower the hurdle for customers to automate with robots, according to the report. The benefit of using RaaS instead of buying robots is that companies have no fixed capital, no fixed costs, and no need for robot operators. The use of logistics systems in non-manufacturing industries has been strongly driven by warehouse solutions for major e-commerce companies. A strong potential can also be found in hospitals running their logistics with the help of professional service robots. In the segment of professional service robotics, about 90% of the sampled logistics robots were produced in Europe and North America, and about 10% in Asia.

© Thomas Plettenberg for Messe München / Source: International Federation of Robotics

The segment of field robotics consists of robots for agriculture, dairy, livestock farming and other field applications. Sales value increased by 3% to 1.3 billion US dollars. According to the IFR experts, the COVID-19 pandemic might increase demand for field robots. Travel restrictions for workers from Eastern Europe, for instance, who usually travel to Western Europe in harvest season, caused a shortage of labour supply. Farmers might compensate this with the use of field robots. Sales value growth rates of more than 30% for agricultural robots seem possible.

Service robots for personal and domestic use are mainly produced for a mass market in the area of household robots. This includes vacuuming and floor cleaning robots, lawn-mowing robots or entertainment robots. The total number of service robots for personal and domestic use increased by 34% to more than 23.2 million units sold in 2019. The value grew by 20% to 5.7 billion US dollars. Unit prices for the two major segments, robot vacuums and toy robots, have been declining in recent years. Today, basic robot vacuums are already available for less than 100 US dollars. 75% of the sampled domestic service robots – vacuum and floor cleaners, lawn mowers and other domestic robots – were produced by American companies in 2019. Asian companies had a share of 19%, European companies of 6%.

A growing market is the use of assistance robots for elderly or handicapped persons. The estimated sales value increased by 17% to 91 million US dollars.

In addition, the IFR experts expect that the COVID-19 pandemic will further boost the market for service robots. They envisage high demand in areas like robotics disinfection solutions, robotic logistics solutions in factories and warehouses as well as robots for home delivery.

Further information

IFR press release – https://ifr.org/ifr-press-releases/news/service-robots-record-sales-worldwide-up-32