Welcome to the 17th edition of Cloudflare’s DDoS threat report. This edition covers the DDoS threat landscape along with key findings as observed from the Cloudflare network during the first quarter of 2024.

We are thrilled to announce that KnowBe4 has been named a leader in the latest G2 Grid Report that compares security awareness training (SAT) vendors based on user reviews, customer satisfaction, popularity and market presence. Have you ever wanted to peek behind the curtain of Security Awareness Training (SAT) platforms and see which one truly stands out? Well, you don't need to wonder anymore.

Keeper Security is pleased to announce that passphrases are now supported in the Keeper Vault. Passphrases provide a highly secure yet easy-to-remember approach to logins for all users, and can be both generated and stored with Keeper. Keeper’s passphrase generator is a new option within its existing password generator. Users and admins will have the choice of which generator they would like to use or enforce for their organization.

Microsoft and Google were the most frequently impersonated brands in phishing attacks during the first quarter of 2024, according to a report from Check Point. Microsoft-themed phishing attempts accounted for 38% of attacks in Q1 2024, while Google came in at a distant second with 11%. Notably, phishing attacks impersonating vacation rental company Airbnb have spiked over the past few weeks.

While Palo Alto Networks has not released patches for all affected versions, CyCognito has conducted active tests across all customer realms and 97.5% of CyCognito customers’ affected devices are no longer exploitable.

The ransomware landscape is evolving with increased competition among threat groups and the emergence of new ransomware operations. However, victim organizations and potential targets are strengthening their security measures and procedures to prepare for potential ransomware attacks. Our latest quarterly report for Q1 2024 shows a significant decrease in ransomware incidents, down to 1,048 cases, representing a 22% decline compared to Q4 2023.

Achieving an effective bring-your-own-device (BYOD) program has been aspirational for many IT organizations. There are explicit security and privacy concerns, which have led many admins to sour on the concept, despite its benefits. Admins have even reluctantly accepted the risk of personal PCs being left unmanaged, which leaves gaps in management and visibility.

Brute force attacks are one of the most common methods used by cybercriminals to steal credentials from organizations. To prevent brute force attacks, organizations need to enforce the use of strong and unique passwords, invest in a business password manager, require employees to enable MFA, monitor and limit login attempts, implement passwordless authentication and delete inactive accounts.

The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) recently announced that they are investigating a major breach at Sisense, a business intelligence company.

The power of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) is a double-edged sword — empowering cybercriminals and cybersecurity professionals alike. AI, particularly generative AI’s ability to automate tasks, extract information from vast amounts of data, and generate communications and media indistinguishable from the real thing, can all be used to enhance cyberattacks and campaigns.