From the front lines of incident response engagements to managed security services, IBM Security X-Force observes attack trends firsthand, yielding insights into the cyber threat landscape. Every year, X-Force collates billions of data points to assess cybersecurity threats to our customers.

This report — the X-Force Threat Intelligence Index 2021 — represents our latest edition of that yearly assessment. It covers data and findings from January to December 2020 and is meant to assist organizations in understanding current threats and how they evolve, assess risk and prioritize cybersecurity efforts. Research found Linux-related malware threats rising rapidly, threat actors actively spoofing top technology brands and shifting tactics emerging in response to the evolving COVID-19 situation.