Armis Warns Global Elections a Bullseye for Nation-State Cyberattacks

Armis, the asset intelligence cybersecurity company, is warning that global elections will be the largest attack vector for nation-state actors looking to cause mass disruption in 2024.

Data from Armis' second annual global cyberwarfare report, The Invisible Front Line: AI-Powered Cyber Threats Illuminate the Dark Side, show organizations and governments worldwide face critical threat levels from sophisticated nation-states and admittedly are severely underprepared to defend against impending cyberwarfare attacks.

"In the biggest global election year in history, democracy is the primary target of nation-state threat actors," said Nadir Izrael, CTO and Co-Founder, Armis. "Make no mistake - we are in a cyber arms race against our adversaries and society as we know it is at risk. It's essential that we immediately shift from a reactive to a proactive, defensive stance before it's too late."

Thirty-nine percent of IT leaders worldwide believe cyberwarfare could affect the integrity of an electoral process and 42% believe cyberwarfare could target the media. As half of the global population across 76 nations prepare to head to the polls this year, this pre-existing doubt in the sanctity of the electoral process has laid the groundwork for calculated assaults on public trust. When successful, cyberwarfare attacks could destabilize economies and cripple entire commercial and societal systems.

Additionally, 60% of IT leaders say digital transformation projects have stalled or stopped entirely due to cyberwarfare risks. However, innovation has not stalled for bad actors who continue to push the boundaries. Elite researchers from Armis Labs have uncovered the tactics of nation-state actors affiliated with Russia, North Korea, Iran and China that are using AI for advanced cyber capabilities. Armis Labs is also seeing an increase in the combination of weaponized vulnerabilities being used by threat actors in a single attack.

"Relying on legacy technologies and manual security processes is the equivalent of bringing a knife to a gunfight, given the threats we're up against and the arsenal of nation-state actors," continued Izrael. "It is critical that security leaders fight fire with fire, leveraging AI-powered solutions that empower them with actionable intelligence before a vulnerability is announced, before an attack is launched and before their organization is impacted. Forewarned is forearmed."

Armis Centrixtm for Actionable Threat Intelligence is an early warning, AI-based system that leverages dark web, dynamic honeypots and human intelligence (HUMINT) to anticipate threats, understand their potential impact and take preemptive action to neutralize them, effectively moving the security posture from defense to offense.

The 2024 Armis Cyberwarfare Report, The Invisible Front Line: AI-Powered Cyber Threats Illuminate the Dark Side, is based on a study of over 2,600 global IT decision-makers and proprietary data from Armis Labs.

Read the full report from Armis, including a comprehensive breakdown of the findings for each region of respondents, here.

About Armis

Armis, the asset intelligence cybersecurity company, protects the entire attack surface and manages the organization's cyber risk exposure in real time. In a rapidly evolving, perimeter-less world Armis ensures that organizations continuously see, protect and manage all critical assets. Armis secures Fortune 100, 200 and 500 companies as well as national governments, state and local entities to help keep critical infrastructure, economies and society stay safe and secure 24/7. Armis is a privately held company headquartered in California.