Ransomware Attacks Grew by 485% in 2020 Interestingly, nearly two-thirds (64%) of the ransomware attacks took place in the first two quarters of 2020. The report, which analyzed data from Bitdefender’s Global Protective Network (GPN), revealed that proprietary operating systems used in IoT devices made up 96% of all detected vulnerabilities, while a 335% surge in Smart TV vulnerabilities occurred compared to 2019. The researchers also looked at how malicious actors utilized social engineering techniques last year. Android was especially heavily targeted to spread malware and malicious apps in this way, experiencing a 32% growth in reported threats during the second half of 2020. Many of these involved impersonating popular video conferencing software and medical apps, especially during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. For example, April and May accounted for 14% and 12% of the total number of Android reports last year.