Racing the Clock: Outpacing Accelerating Attacks

ReliaQuest's 2024 threat intelligence report documents a marked acceleration in cyber attacks driven by increased use of infostealers and initial-access brokers, efficiency gains in the RaaS ecosystem (including specialized affiliate “assembly lines” and help-desk scams), and AI-assisted pentesting/exploitation that reduced time-to-exploitation and breakout times (average breakout 48 minutes, fastest 27 minutes). The report presents data-backed trends, a Black Basta case study, and actionable mitigations—emphasizing automated containment, credential protection, patching, and telemetry to counter rapidly accelerating incidents.