AUGUST 2026
One attack logged every ~3.4 hours across the month. 4 in 5 were driven by profit, not politics.
Financially motivated crime crushed every other driver combined, climbing to four in five attacks. Espionage remained the only other force with real weight on the board.
Nearly 1 in 3 breaches began the same way: attackers simply exploited an application already exposed to the internet.
Just over 1 in 4 attacks weaponized malicious code. Ransomware surged into a clear second place, with credential-based Account Takeover close behind.
Information & Communication kept the top spot, but Public Administration closed the gap to just three incidents — together, the two accounted for well over a third of all sector-tagged attacks.
Attacks spanned six continents — but nearly 1 in 3 flagged incidents traced back to a single nation.
Incident volume swung wildly all month — then a two-day surge on Aug 18–19 delivered 34 attacks, including the month's single busiest day, before volume dropped to zero twice.