Threats over HTTPS grew by 24% from 2022, underscoring the sophisticated nature of cybercriminal tactics that target encrypted channels, according to Zscaler.

For the second year in a row, manufacturing was the industry most commonly targeted, with education and government organizations seeing the highest year-over-year increase in attacks. Additionally, malware, which includes malicious web content and malware payloads, continued to dominate over other types of encrypted attacks, with ad spyware sites and cross-site scripting accounting for 78% of all blocked attacks.

In total, 86% of all cyber threats, including malware, ransomware, and phishing attacks, are delivered over encrypted channels.

“With nearly 95% of web traffic flowing over HTTPS and 86% of the advanced threats delivered over encrypted channels, any HTTPS traffic that does not undergo inline inspection represents a significant blind spot that cybercriminals continue to exploit when targeting global organizations,” said Deepen Desai, Chief Security Officer, Zscaler. “To defend against encrypted attacks, organizations should replace vulnerable appliances, like VPNs and firewalls, with a Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) solution. This allows IT teams to inspect TLS traffic at scale while blocking threats and preventing sensitive data leakage.”

Encrypted malware is a top threat

Malware keeps its top spot as the champion of encrypted threats, driving 23 billion encrypted hits between October 2022 and September 2023 and comprising 78% of all attempted cyberattacks.

Encrypted malware includes malicious web content, malware payloads, macro-based malware, and more. The most prevalent malware family in 2023 was ChromeLoader, followed by MedusaLocker and Redline Stealer.

Manufacturers saw the largest amount of AI/ML transactions compared to any other industry, processing over 2.1 billion AI/ML-related transactions. It remains the most targeted industry, accounting for 31.6% of encrypted attacks tracked by Zscaler.

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