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Roughly 70% of all cyberattacks in 2024 involved critical infrastructure
webRelevant background for understanding how cyberattacks on critical infrastructure create systemic risks; useful context for AI safety discussions around autonomous systems, AI-enabled attacks, and the governance of AI in high-stakes operational environments.
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Summary
This resource reports that approximately 70% of cyberattacks in 2024 were directed at critical infrastructure sectors, highlighting the growing threat landscape for essential services. It aggregates notable attack incidents and trends from 2024, underscoring vulnerabilities in energy, water, healthcare, and transportation systems. The piece contextualizes why critical infrastructure is an attractive target and discusses implications for national security.
Key Points
- •Approximately 70% of all cyberattacks in 2024 targeted critical infrastructure, reflecting a major shift in threat actor priorities.
- •Key sectors affected include energy, water treatment, healthcare, and transportation, all of which underpin societal stability.
- •Nation-state actors and ransomware groups are identified as primary drivers of attacks on critical systems.
- •The trend signals escalating risks of physical harm and societal disruption resulting from cyber intrusions.
- •Improved security frameworks and cross-sector coordination are highlighted as essential responses to the threat.
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| Page | Type | Quality |
|---|---|---|
| Cyberweapons Risk | Risk | 91.0 |
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Cyber Attack News - Risk Roundup - 2024 Retrospective
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2024 in Review: Cyber Threats and the Fight to Secure Critical Infrastructure
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By Xage Security December 18, 2024 February 6th, 2026 No Comments
All Blogs Cyber News
2024 in Review: Cyber Threats and the Fight to Secure Critical Infrastructure
By Xage Security December 18, 2024 No Comments
Author: Celine Rosak, Director of Corporate and Brand Marketing, Xage Security
Each month, our Cyber Risk Roundup blog series highlights the most pressing cybersecurity topics and threats. This December, we’re taking a broader look back at the year’s most significant threats to critical infrastructure.
This year, critical infrastructure faced an unprecedented surge in cyberattacks, exposing vulnerabilities across industries vital to our economy, security, and daily lives. From nation-state actors targeting telecommunications networks and energy grids to ransomware disrupting healthcare and financial services, the threats grew in both scale and sophistication.
In response, governments, agencies, and organizations began to strengthen their defenses, with new regulations, collaborative guidance, and calls for a shift toward proactive cybersecurity measures. Yet, as the attacks of 2024 demonstrate, there is still much work to be done.
Join us as we look back on the most significant cyber threats to critical infrastructure this year—exploring emerging trends, major incidents, and the steps needed to safeguard these essential systems in an increasingly hostile cyber landscape.
Looking for the biggest attacks and trends by industry? Browse by Critical Infrastructure sector:
Water and Waste Systems
Communications
Healthcare
Energy
Transportation
Space
Financial Services
Information Technology
Nation-State Threats Dominate Critical Infrastructure Attacks
No discussion of this year’s critical infrastructure attacks can begin without addressing the headline-grabbing campaign by the Chinese state-sponsored hacking group Volt Typhoon. The group targeted the IT infrastructure supporting critical systems in the U.S., including energy grids, transportation networks, and more. While their campaign came to light this year, researchers believe Volt Typhoon had been entrenched in these networks long before. The group’s hallmark use of “living off the land” (LOTL) techniques made detection and mitigation particularly challenging.
In response to the Volt Typhoon campaign, the Cybersecurity an
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