Global Threat Intelligence August 2026

iGuRu.gr > Global Threat Intelligence August 2026

Check Point Research records global increase in attacks and ongoing data exposure risks from GenAI use

Check Point Research, the threat intelligence division of Check Point Software Technologies Ltd., has released its Global Threat Intelligence data for August 2026. Organizations worldwide received an average of 2.422 cyberattacks per week, a number increased by 4% compared to July and by 22% year-on-yearData shows that attacks continued to increase over the summer, while ransomware, phishing, and data exposure via GenAI tools remained significant challenges for businesses. malware

See more articles from iGuRu.gr when you search for news on Google.

iGuRu.gr preferred source

The findings reinforce the need for a security strategy that prioritizes prevention and offers unified visibility and control across users, email, networks, cloud environments, and artificial intelligence tools.

“August’s data shows that cyber risk is growing simultaneously on multiple fronts,” said Omer Dembinsky, Data Research Manager at Check Point Research. “As attacks increase, ransomware accelerates, phishing remains a common entry point, and GenAI creates a new avenue for data exposure, security teams cannot rely on fragmented defenses. They need protection that prioritizes prevention and combines visibility, control, and automation across networks, cloud, endpoints, email, and AI to stop threats before they disrupt operations or expose sensitive information.”

Education remains the sector with the most attacks

Education remained the most attacked industry globally, with 5.354 attacks per organization per week, up 28% year-over-year. Government followed with 3.067 weekly attacks. Hospitality, travel and leisure climbed to third place, with 3.056 attacks per week, up 56% year-over-year. Attackers continue to target environments with large numbers of users, multiple access points and significant data flows, where an outage can have immediate operational consequences.

Latin America records the largest volume and Europe the fastest growth

Latin America remained the region with the highest attack volume, with 3.577 attacks per organization per week, up 25% year-over-year. Europe saw the fastest growth, up 28%, while Africa reached 3.335 weekly attacks and Asia Pacific reached 3.325. The increase in Europe shows that the pressure is also extending to mature digital economies, where organizations operate in complex and interconnected environments.

The image in Greece

In Greece, organizations suffered an average of 1.732 cyberattacks per week in August 2026, marking a 3% increase compared to the same month in 2025. Although the growth rate was lower than the global increase of 22% and the European increase of 28%, the data shows that the pressure remained upward in the Greek market as well.

GenAI usage increases and maintains data exposure risk

The risk associated with GenAI remained a part of everyday business operations. High-risk prompts fell to their lowest level in months, with one in 43 prompts from corporate networks posing a risk of data exposure. At the same time, usage continued to increase. The average user created 106 prompts in August, up from 95 in July and about 78 in June. This difference suggests that, even when awareness or controls improve, the rapid expansion of GenAI use increases the instances in which sensitive information can be introduced into tools without adequate governance.

The issue remained widespread. 86% of organizations that regularly used GenAI were impacted by high-risk prompt activity, with each organization using an average of seven different AI tools. The governance challenge is not limited to the use of GenAI, but concerns visibility into the data being shared, its destination, and the ability to protect it from potential exposure.

The healthcare and medical services industry recorded the highest rate of exposure to high-risk prompts, at 4%. This was followed by the software industry at 3,6% and business services at 3,5%. Regionally, Latin America recorded the highest rate, at 3,5%, above the global average of 2,3%. These differences indicate that industries with large volumes of sensitive, regulated or proprietary data require specialized governance for the use of AI.

Phishing is on the rise and malicious links are dominating

Email remained a key attack vehicle. One in 112 emails were classified as phishing, up from one in 128 in July. Links were present in 72% of phishing emails, while 14% contained file attachments. The dominance of links allows attackers to easily scale social engineering campaigns, quickly tailor baits to current events or business processes, and direct users to websites that steal credentials or distribute malware.

Associations and non-profits had the highest phishing rate, at 1,87%, followed by construction and technical services at 1,74%. Both industries often rely on external communications with donors, competitions, partners or suppliers, which can make it difficult to distinguish between a legitimate message and a malicious one.

Ransomware incidents nearly doubled

Ransomware activity continued to accelerate in August. A total of 1.042 incidents were reported, nearly double the number reported in August 2025 and up 8% from July. Business services remained the industry with the most attacks, accounting for 36% of reported incidents. Manufacturing followed at 13% and consumer goods and services at 12%. The concentration in business services suggests that attackers favor organizations that are at the center of broader supply chains and can impact multiple partners and customers.

Qilin leads and Orova enters the top three

Qilin was the most active ransomware group in August, responsible for 15% of reported attacks. The Gentlemen followed with 10%, while Orova entered the top three for the first time with 4%. The shifts among the most active groups show that the field remains fluid, as established actors maintain the pressure and newer or less visible groups can quickly gain a significant presence.

For businesses, August’s data confirms the need to move from reactive detection to proactive protection. Unified security mechanisms can reduce complexity and help teams identify and block threats in increasingly distributed digital environments.