Cyber-threat Throwback: 2023 Eruptions Spelling New-Year Disruptions

ReliaQuest’s 2024 outlook reviews major 2023 developments: law-enforcement takedowns disrupted multiple cybercriminal marketplaces and malware networks (e.g., Genesis Market, BreachForums, Hive, QakBot), but actors remain resilient (ALPHV/BlackCat). It highlights the large-scale Clop/MOVEit zero-day exploitation affecting roughly 2,600 organizations and evolving extortion tactics, and warns that AI-enabled tools (WormGPT, FraudGPT, Black Mamba PoC) are accelerating attack automation, polymorphic malware development, and more effective phishing/BEC campaigns—forecasting continued high ransomware and malware risk in 2024 and urging proactive security operations.