Pierluigi Paganini
January 29, 2018
The report brings to light new trends on hackers activities and threats especially the rise of ransomware as a tool of choice.
Researchers from MALWAREBYTES had gathered an enormous amount of data from the telemetry of their products, intel teams, and data science from January to November 2016 and to January to November 2017 to consolidate the evolution of the threat landscape of malware.
It is taken into account the tactics of infection, attack methods, development and distribution techniques used by hackers to target and compromise business and customers alike. There was a surge of 90% in ransomware detection for business customers in such way that it had become the fifth most detected threat. Regarding its modus operandi, the researchers found out a change in the distribution of malicious payloads, which includes banker Trojans and cryptocurrency miners.
Ransomware was on the rise, but it was not the only method employed by hackers. The report reveals that hackers had used banking trojans, spyware and hijackers to steal data, login credentials, contact lists, credit card data and spy on the user as an alternative way to compromise system security. The report discovered that hijackers detection grew 40% and spyware detection grew 30%. The report lists the Top 10 business threat detections with the five most significant threats being: Hijacker, Adware, Riskware Tool, Backdoor, and Ransomware respectively.
While the report covers a variety of threats, it emphasizes how malware outbreak had evolved. A game changer to the ransomware outbreak like WannaCry was the government exploit tool EternalBlue that was leaked and has been employed to compromise update processes and increased geo-targeting attacks. According to the report these tactics had been adopted to bypass traditional methods of detection.
The report highlights the delivery techniques utilized by ransomware due to the EternalBlue exploit tool leaked from NSA. The usage of this exploit tool was a ground break landmark to the development of WannaCry and NotPetya ransomware. The EternalBlue (CVE-2017-0144) is a vulnerability in Server Message Block (SMB) handling present in many Windows operating systems. WannaCry was able to widespread globally due to operating systems that were not properly updated.
The report dedicates a special attention to NotPetya ransomware, as it was influenced by ransomware Petya and WannaCry. This ransomware has used two Server Message Block (SMB) vulnerabilities: EternalBlue (CVE2017-0144) and EternalRomance (CVE-2017-0145) and was also able to encrypt the MFT (Master File Table) and the MBR (Master Boot Record) on affected systems. Other malware analyzed in the report, that used the leaked exploit tools from the NSA was: Adylkuzz, CoinMiner, and Retefe.
The researchers also unveil a new attack vector employed by hackers: Geo Targeting attacks. In this type of attack, groups of hackers or rogue nations employ a variety of techniques to disrupt, destabilize, or compromise data in specific countries. The Magniber malicious code targeted South Korea specifically and the BadRabbit had targeted Ukraine. Although NotPetya emerged in Ukraine its action was not limited within its borders.
Finally, the report brings forth to light trends based on data collected. Cyptocurrency miners already become a new threat with the recent news of a steal of bitcoins from Japan. Other trends to watch out this year in the report is the attacks on the supply chain, the increase of malware in MAC systems and leaks in government and in companies that will lead to new zero-day vulnerabilities.
Sources:
http://www.information-age.com/ransomware-detections-increased-90-123470549/
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2018/jan/25/ransomware-detections-90-percent-2017-leaked-nsa-e/
http://www.computerweekly.com/news/252433761/Ransomware-was-most-popular-cyber-crime-tool-in-2017
https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/malware-tactics-shifted/
https://www.malwarebytes.com/pdf/white-papers/CTNT_2017stateofmalware/
About the author Luis Nakamoto
Luis Nakamoto is a Computer Science student of Cryptology and an enthusiastic of information security having participated in groups like Comissão Especial de Direito Digital e Compliance (OAB/SP) and CCBS (Consciência Cibernética Brasil) as a researcher in new technologies related to ethical hacking, forensics and reverse engineering. Also, a prolific and compulsive writer participating as a Redactor to Portal Tic from Sebrae Nacional.
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(Security Affairs – malware, cybercrime)
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