More than half of cyber attacks are now motivated by extortion and ransomware, according to Microsoft, with legacy security measures no longer enough to counter the threat.

In its sixth annual Digital Defense Report , the company said attackers sought to steal data, mostly for financial gain, in 80% of the cyber incidents its security teams investigated last year.

"That’s at least 52% of incidents fueled by financial gain, while attacks focused solely on espionage made up just 4%," said Amy Hogan-Burney, CVP for customer security and trust.

"Nation-state threats remain a serious and persistent threat, but most of the immediate attacks organizations face today come from opportunistic criminals looking to make a profit."

Critical public services are a main target, the study noted.

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