• Home
  • Cyber Crime
  • Cyber warfare
  • APT
  • Data Breach
  • Deep Web
  • Digital ID
  • Hacking
  • Hacktivism
  • Intelligence
  • Internet of Things
  • Laws and regulations
  • Malware
  • Mobile
  • Reports
  • Security
  • Social Networks
  • Terrorism
  • ICS-SCADA
  • POLICIES
  • Contact me
MUST READ

Russia-linked APT Secret Blizzard targets foreign embassies in Moscow with ApolloShadow malware

 | 

Dahua Camera flaws allow remote hacking. Update firmware now

 | 

Researchers released a decryptor for the FunkSec ransomware

 | 

Apple fixed a zero-day exploited in attacks against Google Chrome users

 | 

PyPI maintainers alert users to email verification phishing attack

 | 

FBI seizes 20 BTC from Chaos Ransomware affiliate targeting Texas firms

 | 

Critical SAP flaw exploited to launch Auto-Color Malware attack on U.S. company

 | 

Orange reports major cyberattack, warns of service disruptions

 | 

Hackers leak images and comments from women dating safety app Tea

 | 

Pro-Ukraine hacktivists claim cyberattack on Russian Airline Aeroflot that caused the cancellation of +100 flights

 | 

Seychelles Commercial Bank Reported Cybersecurity Incident

 | 

Microsoft uncovers macOS flaw allowing bypass TCC protections and exposing sensitive data

 | 

U.S. CISA adds Cisco ISE and PaperCut NG/MF flaws to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog

 | 

Critical WordPress Post SMTP plugin flaw exposes 200K+ sites to full takeover

 | 

Scattered Spider targets VMware ESXi in using social engineering

 | 

China-linked group Fire Ant exploits VMware and F5 flaws since early 2025

 | 

Allianz Life data breach exposed the data of most of its 1.4M customers

 | 

SECURITY AFFAIRS MALWARE NEWSLETTER ROUND 55

 | 

Security Affairs newsletter Round 534 by Pierluigi Paganini – INTERNATIONAL EDITION

 | 

Law enforcement operations seized BlackSuit ransomware gang’s darknet sites

 | 
  • Home
  • Cyber Crime
  • Cyber warfare
  • APT
  • Data Breach
  • Deep Web
  • Digital ID
  • Hacking
  • Hacktivism
  • Intelligence
  • Internet of Things
  • Laws and regulations
  • Malware
  • Mobile
  • Reports
  • Security
  • Social Networks
  • Terrorism
  • ICS-SCADA
  • POLICIES
  • Contact me
  • Home
  • APT
  • Breaking News
  • Cyber Crime
  • Cyber warfare
  • Reports
  • FireEye: 650 new threat groups were tracked in 2020

FireEye: 650 new threat groups were tracked in 2020

Pierluigi Paganini April 14, 2021

FireEye published its M-Trend 2021 report based on the data collected during the investigation, 650 new threat groups were tracked in 2020

FireEye published its annual report, titled M-Trend 2021, which is based on the data collected during the investigation on security incidents it managed. Most of the incidents investigated by Mandiant (59%) in 2020 were initially detected by the victims, a data that is an improvement of 12% from 2019.

Since its launch, Mandiant tracked more than 2,400 threat groups, 650 of them were tracked in 2020. Over the years, the experts combined or eliminated approximately 500 groups, leaving more than 1,900 distinct groups tracked at this time (+100 compared to 2019).

The threat actors tracked by Mandiant include nation-state actors, financially motivated groups, and uncategorized groups (known as UNCs).

“In 2020, Mandiant experts investigated intrusions that involved 246 distinct threat groups. Organizations faced intrusions by four named financial threat (FIN) groups; six named advanced persistent threat (APT) groups, including groups from the nation-states of China, Iran and Vietnam; and 236 uncategorized threat (UNC) groups. Of the 246 threat groups observed at intrusion clients, 161 of these threat groups were newly tracked threat groups in 2020.” reads the report published by FireEye.

threat actors fireeye report 2021

In 2020, Mandiant researchers tracked more than 500 new malware families, while the experts observed 294 distinct malware families employed in attacks it investigated into compromised environments. Of the nearly 300 malware families observed by Mandiant experts during intrusions, 144 were malware families that Mandiant began tracking in 2020.

Mandiant provided a vertical analysis of the malware category distribution, which appears the same of the previous year. In 2020, the top five categories of malware involved in the incident were backdoors (36%), downloaders (16%), droppers (8%), launchers (7%) and
ransomware (5%)

According to the report, 81% of newly tracked malware families were non-public, most of the malicious code tracked by the researchers was likely privately developed or their availability is restricted. In the latter scenario, the malware was shared among or sold to a restricted set of threat actors.

The top five malware families seen most frequently during intrusions investigated by the experts were BEACON, EMPIRE, MAZE, NETWALKER, and Metasploit. An interesting data that emerged from the report is the lack of cross-pollination with respect to the malware used across incidents.

“Just 3.4% of malware families seen during an incident were observed at 10 or more intrusions, and 70% percent of malware families seen were only observed during a single intrusion.” continues the report.

threat actors fireeye report 2021 2

The majority of malware families observed by Mandiant during its investigations were Windows effective malware (94%), followed by Linux effective malware (8%) and MacOS effective malware (3%). 89% of the malware was only effective against Windows systems.

Additional information on TTPs used by threat actors is included in the report published by FireEye.

If you want to receive the weekly Security Affairs Newsletter for free subscribe here.

Follow me on Twitter: @securityaffairs and Facebook

[adrotate banner=”9″][adrotate banner=”12″]

Pierluigi Paganini

(SecurityAffairs – hacking, FireEye)

[adrotate banner=”5″]

[adrotate banner=”13″]


facebook linkedin twitter

Hacking hacking news information security news IT Information Security malware Pierluigi Paganini Security Affairs Security News

you might also like

Pierluigi Paganini July 31, 2025
Russia-linked APT Secret Blizzard targets foreign embassies in Moscow with ApolloShadow malware
Read more
Pierluigi Paganini July 31, 2025
Attackers actively exploit critical zero-day in Alone WordPress Theme
Read more

leave a comment

newsletter

Subscribe to my email list and stay
up-to-date!

    recent articles

    Russia-linked APT Secret Blizzard targets foreign embassies in Moscow with ApolloShadow malware

    APT / July 31, 2025

    Dahua Camera flaws allow remote hacking. Update firmware now

    Hacking / July 31, 2025

    Researchers released a decryptor for the FunkSec ransomware

    Malware / July 31, 2025

    Apple fixed a zero-day exploited in attacks against Google Chrome users

    Security / July 30, 2025

    PyPI maintainers alert users to email verification phishing attack

    Hacking / July 30, 2025

    To contact me write an email to:

    Pierluigi Paganini :
    pierluigi.paganini@securityaffairs.co

    LEARN MORE

    QUICK LINKS

    • Home
    • Cyber Crime
    • Cyber warfare
    • APT
    • Data Breach
    • Deep Web
    • Digital ID
    • Hacking
    • Hacktivism
    • Intelligence
    • Internet of Things
    • Laws and regulations
    • Malware
    • Mobile
    • Reports
    • Security
    • Social Networks
    • Terrorism
    • ICS-SCADA
    • POLICIES
    • Contact me

    Copyright@securityaffairs 2024

    We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept All”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies. However, you may visit "Cookie Settings" to provide a controlled consent.
    Cookie SettingsAccept All
    Manage consent

    Privacy Overview

    This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities...
    Necessary
    Always Enabled
    Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
    Non-necessary
    Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
    SAVE & ACCEPT