Encrypted Attacks Surge: Overwhelmed Security Pros Beware

Quick Summary

• Cybersecurity firm Zscaler’s 2024 ThreatLabz State of Encrypted Attacks Report reveals encrypted attacks are up 24% year-over-year, with a staggering 95.54% of malware now delivered via HTTPS — exposing gaps in so-called “deep inspection.”
• Healthcare, finance, and government sectors are being battered the hardest, with healthcare seeing a 239% surge in encrypted attacks. Google, Microsoft, and Telegram are the most abused legitimate platforms for launching encrypted threats.
• Ransomware, spyware, and adware are thriving in TLS-encrypted channels, while commodity malware like ChromeLoader and Guloader keep dominating threat payloads. The network perimeter is officially dead; legacy defenses are asleep at the wheel.
• If you aren’t already inspecting encrypted traffic at scale — or still pretending your “next-gen firewall” actually works — it’s time for a ruthless review of all interception, visibility, and orchestration capabilities. Invest in decryption, but beware of blind spots and regulatory handcuffs.

Encrypted Attacks Surging: The Numbers Speak, But Are We Listening?

Forget marketing platitudes. The latest Zscaler 2024 ThreatLabz State of Encrypted Attacks Report is a wake-up call for anyone still clinging to the illusion that perimeter firewalls and half-baked SSL inspection are keeping the barbarians at the gate. According to this report, encrypted attacks have shot up by 24% in just a year. That’s not a slow crawl — that’s a siege. An astounding 95.54% of all new malware now comes hidden in encrypted, supposedly “secure” web traffic. If your security stack is blind to what rides in TLS-encrypted channels, you might as well put a revolving door on your infrastructure.

The numbers get uglier in sectors that actually matter to everyday lives. Healthcare experienced a mind-numbing 239% increase in encrypted attacks compared to the prior year. Finance jumped by 59%, and government — the perennial punching bag — didn’t escape the onslaught either. The so-called “protection” of HTTPS is now the criminal’s best friend, with attackers exploiting the same security protocols we evangelize.

And who’s abetting this? Not some shady C2 infrastructure in Eastern Europe, but household brands: Google, Microsoft, and Telegram top the list of most abused channels. Cybercriminals know your users trust these platforms — so they weaponize them. (See the original reporting here: as reported here).

Legacy Defenses: Outpaced, Outgunned, Out-of-Touch

Let’s get something painfully clear: commodity malware — the kind that keeps incident response teams burning out — arrives through encrypted channels with impunity. Zscaler’s researchers namechecked ChromeLoader, Guloader, and the ever-present AgentTesla. These aren’t zero-days. They’re the digital equivalent of postal spam, and yet legacy controls keep letting them in.

Ransomware gangs have graduated from spray and pray to meticulously exploiting TLS encryption, with remote access trojans (RATs) like NjRAT and AsyncRAT riding shotgun. Spyware and adware are thriving because, frankly, too many security teams are still under the delusion that “SSL inspection” boxes from five years ago can keep pace. Spoiler alert: most can’t handle high throughput, don’t decrypt modern strong ciphers, and fall apart once traffic patterns shift or privacy regulations clamp down.

Worse, SIEM and XDR platforms are only as good as the visibility they’re fed — and more often than not, all they see is the wrapping, not the payload. We’re drowning in security data, yet starving for actionable insights, as discussed in the cyber threat intelligence paradox. And attackers know it.

If you’re operating in cloud-heavy, remote-first environments (read: everyone), you’d better hope your cloud security investments aren’t just checkbox exercises. The perimeter is gone; all that’s left is your ability to see, intercept, and orchestrate response in real time. Not someday. Not post-incident. Now.

Take Action: Ruthless Visibility, Relentless Adaptation

For CISOs and operators, the question isn’t whether you inspect encrypted traffic. It’s whether you can do it at the necessary scale and sophistication — without breaking user trust or violating privacy regs. Most “next-gen” appliances buckle with real-world HTTPS loads, and attackers are quick to spot where you aren’t looking.

Here’s what needs to change if you don’t want to see your org’s name on next year’s shame list:

• Invest in modern TLS/SSL decryption and inspection that plugs into your actual data flows — SaaS, cloud, remote. Don’t settle for port/protocol illusions. Scrutinize your architecture ruthlessly.
• Kill the myth of the all-seeing SIEM. Unless its ears are right on the wire and it’s fed decrypted payload—not just metadata—you’re burning cash for compliance, not security. Revisit and validate your toolset’s real visibility, as argued in the SIEM market consolidation debate.
• Prepare for increased regulatory scrutiny. Healthcare and finance aren’t just juicy targets; they’re also ground zero for privacy laws that don’t care how disastrous your telemetry gaps are. Build privacy-by-design into decryption workflows, and map every interception to a compliant policy.
• Don’t buy the “platform trust” myth. Google and Microsoft channels will always appear legitimate to end users, but they’re favorite vehicles for encrypted malware. Train your detection to recognize malice hiding in sanctioned services, not just rogue endpoints.

This is the new normal: attackers exploit your confidence in encryption. The only way to keep pace is relentless visibility and orchestration, especially in the cloud. Dig into the details of cloud security that performs, not just promises.

The real kicker? Most organizations still inspect just a fraction of encrypted traffic due to “performance” concerns or privacy jitters. Here’s the hard truth: a false sense of security is a bigger risk than a performance dip. If you’re not inspecting, you’re not protecting—full stop.

The punchline for every CISO: Audit every inspection choke point now. Remove blind spots, even if it hurts. If your team tells you “we’re covered,” show up with last week’s packet captures — and make them prove it. The threat isn’t theoretical. It’s already encrypted and knocking, waving a Google or Microsoft badge. And nobody gets a mulligan on visibility.