Tag Archive for: Dominate

Zero-Day Exploits Dominate Malware from Web Traffic in Q1 — THE Journal

/in


Information Security

Zero-Day Exploits Dominate Malware from Web Traffic in Q1

In the first quarter of 2023, a massive 93% of detected malware from encrypted web traffic and 70% of malware from unencrypted web traffic came from zero day malware, according to a new report. And 51 new ransomware variants were detected.

According to WatchGuard Technologies’ Q1 Internet Security Report, part of an ongoing series of quarterly reports on data security across all sectors, “Zero day malware can infect IoT devices, misconfigured servers, and other devices that don’t use robust host-based defenses….”

Meanwhile, on the ransomware front, according to WatchGuard, “In Q1 2023, the Threat Lab tallied 852 victims published to extortion sites and discovered 51 new ransomware variants. These ransomware groups continue to publish victims at an alarmingly high rate; some are well known organizations and companies in the Fortune 500.”

Other trends noted in the Q1 report included:

  • Malware droppers are targeting Linux systems, “a stark reminder that just because Windows is king in the enterprise space, this doesn’t mean organizations can afford to turn a blind eye to Linux and macOS,” according to WatchGuard;

  • Attackers are exploiting browser notifications more now that browsers have more protections in place against abuse of pop-ups;

  • Three-fourths of new attacks in Q1’s top-10 list originated in China and Russia;

  • Exploits targeting Microsoft Office and Microsoft’s end of life products persist; and

  • “Living-off-the-land” attacks — attacks that use a system’s built-in tools to accomplish their goals — continue to rise. “The continued appearance of Microsoft Office- and PowerShell-based malware in these reports quarter after quarter underscores the importance of endpoint protection that can differentiate legitimate and malicious use of popular tools like PowerShell,” according to the report.

The complete report and an executive summary can be accessed free of…

Source…

Security trends that will dominate in 2023, CIOSEA News, ETCIO SEA

/in


Security trends that will dominate in 2023

It is expected that 2023 shall continue to see adoption of zero trust (ZT) and cyber resilience across inhouse and outsourced security operation centres as well as Cybersecurity-as-a-Service (CSaaS) providers. The continuing Russia Ukraine crisis, political developments across Taiwan and Iran, and a reported resurgence in the Omicron BF7 strain are resulting in continuing uncertainty and vulnerabilities. Companies are also looking at the impending recession, continued hybrid/ remote working, quiet quitting, moonlighting on one hand and the proliferation of cloud, 5G and edge computing, IoT, mobility and automotive, digital supply chains as well as reduced dependence on VPNs on the other, hence necessitating a clear focus on ever preparedness and cyber resilience.

What would be the dominant security trends of 2023?

Besides the above-mentioned factors, CISOs will continue to build their zero trust architectures, networks and reduce VPN dependencies on account of increased focus on compliance to cybersecurity acts, frameworks and standards such as FISMA, NIST, CNAP, ENISA, GDPR, the ever -rising importance of organisational reputation and its dependencies on cybersecurity in risk management and minimising penalties and fines for breaches and leaks. Cybersecurity leaders must keep abreast of all global developments, especially in the AI act, digital services and market acts of Europe, the new regulations across the Middle East, Japan, Thailand and several others.

With the trends of globalisation continuing, in 2023 and beyond, it is of paramount importance for CISOs and leaders to have an in-depth knowledge of country specific data privacy laws, especially for those handling sensitive end customer and employee data. There must be careful consideration of aspects such as customer/ employee/ stakeholder consent and rights, data storage, retention and transmission policies, and clear guidelines in case of infringement. It is expected that customer privacy regulations will permeate even more, and as per this Gartner research, three-fourth of the world’s population will have their personal data covered under a privacy guideline by 2024.

Hackers and unscrupulous characters will continue to…

Source…

Credential Theft, O365 Lures Dominate Corporate Inboxes in Q1

/in


Credential Theft O365 Lures Dominate Corporate Inboxers in Q1

 

In Q1, PhishLabs analyzed and mitigated hundreds of thousands of
phishing attacks that targeted corporate users. In this post, we break down these attacks and shed light on the phishing emails that are making it into corporate inboxes.

 

Threats Found in Corporate Inboxes 

 

Credential Theft

Credential theft attacks continue to be the most prolific threats observed in corporate inboxes. In Q1, nearly two-thirds of all reported email threats attempted to steal credentials. This was an 11.6% increase from Q4 2020. 

 

Eighty-four percent of credential theft phishing attacks contained a link that led to a web page with a login form designed to harvest credentials. The remaining 16% delivered attachments similarly designed to lead victims to fake sites and steal sensitive information. Both tactics rely heavily on brand impersonation. 

 

O365

Corporate credentials for
Microsoft Office 365  continued to be targeted heavily in Q1. More than 44% of credential theft email lures targeted O365 logins. This is a 10.4% increase from Q4 2020. 

 

Response-Based

Response-based attacks such as BEC and 419 scams continued to thrive during Q1, contributing to 31% of total phishing emails that targeted corporate users. Advanced-Fee or 419 scams contributed to 60.6% of reported response-based threats. 

 

Breakdown of response-based threats:

 

  1. 419 (60.6%)
  2. BEC (19.7%)
  3. Job Scams (7.7%)
  4. Vishing (6.3%)
  5. Tech Support (5.7%)

 

Although BEC attacks contributed to less than a quarter of response-based attacks Q1, they continue to be a top threat to enterprises. Last year, losses attributed to BEC totaled more than
$1.8 Billion.  

 

Malware

In Q1, 6% of reported phishing lures delivered attachments or links to malware. This suggests email security controls are far better at detecting malicious code in email traffic than they are at detecting social engineering techniques. 

 

ZLoader accounted for 62% of all reported email-based payload activity. This was driven by a
one-day spike in attacks in February that represented one of the largest surges of a single payload we have seen in a 24-hour period.

 

ZLoader and…

Source…

The Next World War – Will Cyber Or Finance Dominate?

/in


With 100,000 Russian troops massing on the borders of Ukraine and enjoying a buildup of supporting airpower and logistics, I was happy to receive Admiral James Stavridis and Elliot Ackermann’s cheerily entitled book ‘2034 – a Novel of the Next World War’ through the letterbox.

The book outlines how a potential naval focused war between China and the US might play out. It is a fun read though also an unvarnished appeal for the USA to spend more on cyber capabilities, and at times ascribes a tactical naivety to the US navy that is implausible.

New World Order

While there is a cottage industry of writers opining on the ‘next’ war in the South China Sea, Stavridis is well qualified as a warrior and scholar. From my own non-military perch, the book emphasized at least four things about the ‘new world order’ that Xi Jinping references at last week’s Boao Forum.  

The first of these is that clusters of books that warn against coming wars, may eventually be worth paying attention to. The outstanding example here is Erskine Childers’ ‘The Riddle of the Sands’ which intricately unveiled the contours of how Britain was vulnerable to a surprise attack by the German navy (a trajectory later enacted by Maldwin Drummond in Rune VII).

Riddle of the Sands

A related thought is that history repeats itself, which is why the argument of Graham Allison’s ‘Thucydides Trap’ is a seductive one. In addition, reading Margaret McMillan’s ‘1914’ I was struck by the inexorable buildup of navies (principally Germany and Britain) in the early part of the 20th century (that Norman Angell also flagged in ‘The Great Illusion’) and the parallels between this phase of history and the growth of the Chinese navy, which on number of ships alone is bigger than the American one.

The third…

Source…