Arctic Wolf Security Operations Report Reveals 50% Security Incidents Occur After Hours

• Arctic Wolf, a cybersecurity protection services firm, released its Security Operations 2024 report, highlighting various emerging trends in enterprise security. The foreword warns that the emerging threat landscape calls for advancements in the security posture of businesses, especially technology companies which significantly trail behind others. 
• The report showcases the major cybersecurity risks that are affecting how businesses secure their infrastructure and networks, and that 40 to 45% of security alerts are generated during the “after-hours” of work, leading to lower detection rates. 

Arctic Wolf, a security operations protection leader, has revealed some eye-opening stats about enterprise security in its Security Operations 2024 report. Doubling down on its advice that “cybersecurity needs 24×7 vigilance and constant adaptation,” its in-depth report explores the current state of enterprise security and the challenges faced by businesses in securing their infrastructure. 

A key highlight of the report was that companies in the technology sector had the worst security posture, followed by education and non-profit organizations. “The technology industry’s focus on velocity and growth often contributes to their general attitude of seeing regulation as secondary, while educational institutions are usually known to have complex architectures clashing with

restrictive budgets that may limit their ability to build and maintain a strong security posture,” explains Dan Schiappa, the Chief Product & Services Officer at Arctic Wolf. 

What’s even more surprising was that up to 45% of security incidents occurred outside the traditional working hours, with 20% of incidents occurring on the weekend as bad actors exploit the slower response rate during off-hours. This key finding from the report highlights the need for 24×7 security operations to identify and remediate issues that happen post-working hours. 

Another risk that the report outlined was that the most exploited applications in any business’ IT ecosystem were some of the most commonly used ones; namely Microsoft Outlook, Windows 10, and Cisco IOS. This revelation underscores that businesses with poor security posture will witness an attack on their most critical software applications, and securing them is of the utmost importance. 

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Another key takeaway was that phishing will remain a threat in the near future. The report stated that in April 2024, it observed a 150% increase in phishing attempts, corresponding with major political announcements and global events, including the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict, controversial Supreme Court rulings in Arizona, and extreme weather events in the southern and central U.S. Moreover, even after giving employees notice of an upcoming phishing simulation, 15% of organizations had at least one employee falling for the lure – with the most successful phishing email subject line being “Updated Vacation Policies 2024”.

Conclusion

The Arctic Wolf Security Operations 2024 report comes at an opportune moment to help businesses improve their security posture by understanding where the gaps are. The report spotlights the fact that most businesses are still susceptible to cyber-attacks, ransomware, phishing, and the next generation of threats. There is hope that businesses can adapt to the latest security standards, conduct awareness exercises and audit their security posture to manage risks in a highly dynamic threat landscape.