Europe hit with a 30 percent increase in cyberattacks, ThreatMetrix reports

The report is based on analysis of 1.9 billion digital transactions on the ThreatMetrix Digital Identity Network in Europe. European digital businesses were hit with 80 million fraud attempts, as they experienced more pronounced spikes of peak attack periods throughout Q1 2018 compared to previous years.

Identity spoofing has become a major threat across the region, resulting from stolen personal data now available on the dark web. In Germany, for example, identity spoofing attacks have more than doubled compared to Q1 2017, according to the official press release of the report.

Moreover, 60 million ecommerce transactions were rejected as fraudulent in Q1, which is a 47% increase compared with 2017. There is a particular focus on identity testing activities targeting this sector, with fraudsters looking to capitalise upon the low-friction approach taken by many merchants aimed at increasing online revenues and encouraging customer loyalty in a fiercely competitive market.

When it comes to mobile transactions, they are attacked half as much of cyberattacks proportionally, compared with desktop transactions, across all industries.

The ThreatMetrix Q1 2018 Cybercrime Report: Europe Deep-Dive reveals evolving attack trends and how they differ across the region, and is based on actual cybercrime attacks from January – March 2018 that were detected by the ThreatMetrix Digital Identity Network during real-time analysis and interdiction of fraudulent online payments, logins and new account applications.

ThreatMetrix is an integrated digital identity platform that allows its users to transact their businesses without friction. For more information about this company, please check out a detailed profile in our web fraud & e-identity database.