 |
| Source: Trend Micro website. |
The second quarter of 2015 was bad news, according to Trend Micro in its Q2 security roundup report. Released today, A Rising Tide: New Hacks Threaten Public Technologies details the evolution of tools and methods that attackers use to get the greatest return on every cybercrime investment.
The second quarter of the year was filled with high profile vulnerabilities and hacks. “In the second quarter, we saw a shift in the threat landscape with cyber criminals becoming more sophisticated and creative, amplifying existing methods of attack, and using them in new ways,” said Dhanya Thakkar, Managing Director, Asia Pacific, Trend Micro.
With attack volumes in the hundreds of millions, the threat that cyber criminals pose today is more tangible than it has ever been. Some of the key numbers from Q2 2015 across Asia Pacific (APAC) include:
The second quarter of the year was filled with high profile vulnerabilities and hacks. “In the second quarter, we saw a shift in the threat landscape with cyber criminals becoming more sophisticated and creative, amplifying existing methods of attack, and using them in new ways,” said Dhanya Thakkar, Managing Director, Asia Pacific, Trend Micro.
“The ethereal outlook on the threat of cybercrime can no longer be held by the general population. This quarter demonstrated that the potential damage caused by cyber attacks extends far beyond a simple software bug to hacks of airplanes, smart cars and television stations.”
With attack volumes in the hundreds of millions, the threat that cyber criminals pose today is more tangible than it has ever been. Some of the key numbers from Q2 2015 across Asia Pacific (APAC) include:
- Over 118 million malware detections
- Over 396 million spam messages blocked
- Over 214 million hits to malicious URLs from users
- Over 50 million hits to malicious URLs hosted in the APAC region
Hackers are taking more strategic approaches, refining their approach and targeting more selective victims to improve their infection rates. This is reflected by the exponential increase in the use of several traditional attack methods, including a 50% increase in the integration of the Angler exploit kit, a 67% growth in overall exploit kit-related threats, and CryptoWall ransomware becoming highly targeted.
Report highlights include:
§ Hacks causing disruptions to public utilities
Broadcast networks, airplanes, automated vehicular systems and home routers are vulnerable to malware infections, and can also cause physical inconveniences.
§ Lone wolf cybercriminals gain notoriety via successful ransomware and point of sale (PoS) attacks
FighterPoS, solo hackers Lordfenix and Frapstar, along with Hawkeye keylogger attacks, demonstrated that single individuals are capable of making a significant impact in today’s threat marketplace.
§ Government entities fight back against cybercrime
Interpol, Europol, the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI all played a role in taking down longstanding botnet operations. Additionally, the indictment of Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht brought to light the nebulous nature and dangers of the Dark Web.
§ Public-facing websites and mobile devices were threatened in new ways
While threats to software are always present, vulnerabilities in Web apps were proven to be just as dangerous. Attackers will leverage any vulnerability available and custom applications need custom security attention to ensure those entry points are eliminated.
Interested?
Broadcast networks, airplanes, automated vehicular systems and home routers are vulnerable to malware infections, and can also cause physical inconveniences.
§ Lone wolf cybercriminals gain notoriety via successful ransomware and point of sale (PoS) attacks
FighterPoS, solo hackers Lordfenix and Frapstar, along with Hawkeye keylogger attacks, demonstrated that single individuals are capable of making a significant impact in today’s threat marketplace.
§ Government entities fight back against cybercrime
Interpol, Europol, the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI all played a role in taking down longstanding botnet operations. Additionally, the indictment of Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht brought to light the nebulous nature and dangers of the Dark Web.
§ Public-facing websites and mobile devices were threatened in new ways
While threats to software are always present, vulnerabilities in Web apps were proven to be just as dangerous. Attackers will leverage any vulnerability available and custom applications need custom security attention to ensure those entry points are eliminated.
Interested?
Read Trend Micro's blog post on the report
No comments:
Post a Comment