Record number of cyberattacks in Portugal in 2022

Last year saw an unprecedented number of cyberattacks against Portuguese institutions including banks, education, technology, transport, health and even media groups.

According to the Portuguese National Cybersecurity Centre (CNCS) there is an elevated perception of cybersecurity risk in Portugal.
“Throughout 2022 there were several cyberattacks which had a great social impact on infrastructures and services in Portugal. This was two years with the greatest number of incidents on this level since registers began, resulting in the topic becoming highly visible in the public arena” according to the ‘Cybersecurity in Portugal Report – Risks and Conflicts’ reports Lusa.
According to the CNCS, the cyber threats that most affected the cyberspace and which were of a national interest in 2022 were ‘ransomware (toxic software used to block computer data and servers and used by hackers to demand ransoms), Phishing (fraudulent e-mails), Smishing (Fraudulent SMSs), Vishing (Fraudulent phone calls), Online fraud, and other attempts of social engineering and compromising accounts, including fraudulent login attempts.
The most relevant victims of cybersecurity included the banking (clients) sector, education and science, technology and higher education, transport, health and social communication. Local Public Administration was particularly the target of “a great number of incidents”.