Catalonia is seeking more than 10,000 cybersecurity experts to stop hackers.
Victims are increasingly less willing to pay ransoms, which is causing cybercriminals to increase their activity.
BarcelonaCurrently, in Catalonia there are about 27,000 professionals dedicated to in the world of cybersecurityThis is a growing sector, which last year generated revenues of up to €1.473 billion, almost 20% more than in 2023. The Catalan Cybersecurity Agency, however, warns of a talent gap that is hindering this growth: there are 13,500 qualified jobs. There are almost 400,000 across Spain and 4.76 million worldwide. In one year, this gap has increased by 12% in Catalonia.
During the presentation of the studyCybersecurity in Catalonia, prepared by Acció and the Catalan Cybersecurity Agency, the Agency's director, Laura Caballero, emphasized that "it is important to grow the sector." Despite being "far from" world leadership, Caballero stressed that the sector's progress in Catalonia has been "remarkable" in recent years and insisted on the need to dedicate efforts to it.
The study indicates that there are 557 companies dedicated to this sector in Catalonia, 7.9% more than last year. 82.6% of these companies are SMEs and 19.6% are start-ups. Of these, more than half exceed one million euros in turnover, and 26.2% reach 10 million. One of the key aspects of the study is how Catalonia is managing to attract companies in this sector: 36% of the 160 hubs Technological experts from international companies established in Catalonia are dedicated to cybersecurity.
And these hubs are focusing especially in artificial intelligence (AI). Of all companies in the sector, 43% are looking for AI-related solutions, because artificial intelligence can be an opportunity but also a risk. According to the report, AI can analyze large volumes of data to find suspicious patterns, identify anomalies, and automatically generate alerts or even responses to potential attacks. But it's also used by cybercriminals: this allows them to mass-produce messages with well-written text, in any language, and tailored to each potential victim to increase the likelihood of success.
Types of incidents
In just one year, the economic cost of cybercrime has reached 9.5 trillion euros worldwide. There are increasing attempts at cyberattacks intended to obtain data and demand a future financial ransom: incidents of this type increased by 15% in Spain last year. However, the dynamics are changing. According to the study, the most frequent attack in Catalonia (in 41% of cases) is the so-called DDoS, which basically consists of blocking a website's service. Then, in 26% of cases, comes the ransomware: When hackers hijack sensitive data and demand a ransom to release it. If not, they resell it on the dark web.
However, victims are increasingly less willing to pay these ransoms. According to the Cybersecurity Agency, this is causing hackers to increase their activity. The decrease in the payment rate has even created internal tensions among cybercriminals, leading to the creation of new groups: 48 have emerged in one year, a record number. The perpetrators of these groups are... ransomware They tend to target SMEs, which typically invest less in cybersecurity than large companies: in 2024, 74% of attacks of this type targeted companies with 1,000 employees or fewer.
The other most frequent attack is service blocking, or DDoS, which is on the rise in a complex geopolitical context. According to the report, various organized cybercriminal groups, with an ideology opposed to NATO, have created an alliance (Project DDoSia) to attack the availability of websites in different countries.