Trend Micro, a global leader in cybersecurity solutions, has released its 2020 Annual Cybersecurity report: A Constant State of Flux. The report shares insights from last year’s threat landscape and provides strategic guidance for leaders to protect and navigate their organisations better in the new normal.

The global insights reveal that Trend Micro blocked 62.6 billion threats last year, 91% of which were email-borne. The findings also cited an average of 119,000 cyber threats detected per minute in 2020 as home workers and infrastructure came under new pressure from attacks.

In the UAE, Trend Micro solutions detected and blocked over 19 million (19,662,122) email threats, prevented 10 million (10,304,154) malicious URL Victim attacks, and nearly 119,000 (119,724) URL hosts. In addition, 2.7 million (2,744,886) malware attacks were identified and stopped, while over 1,600 (1,635) online related banking malware threats were blocked.

The report also shows that home networks in the UAE were a major draw for cybercriminals looking to pivot to corporate systems, devices, and networks. Across the emirates, Trend Micro’s Smart Home Network (SHN) solutions blocked more than 25 million SHN Inbound and outbound attacks combined, preventing 13 million (13,308,205) such SHN events for hackers to target or control home devices from executing malware, obtaining sensitive information, intercepting communications, or launching external attacks.

“Last year brought unprecedented challenges when it came to cyber security as organizations across all industries adapted to forced digital transformation that was caused by the pandemic,” said Majd Sinan, Country Manager, Trend Micro UAE. “This year has set new benchmarks and it is imperative to look at threat postures from a holistic perspective to be able to combat with modern day attacks. The findings from our annual security report will serve as strategic guidance for CISOs in the country to better protect and steer their organization in the digital era.”

In its efforts to ensure secured digital transformation journeys of organizations in the UAE, Trend Micro has been working closely with public and private sectors to create awareness and bridge the gaps. Earlier this year, the company launched its Trend Micro Vision One platform to empower security teams in adopting a new approach that goes beyond – to provide enhanced visibility, threat intelligence, with extended detection and response at every layer of their IT environments.