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Annual Threat Report from Symantec Reveals One in Ten Targeted Attack Groups Use Malware Designed to Disrupt

2018-04-18

Annual Threat Report from Symantec Reveals One in Ten Targeted Attack Groups Use Malware Designed to Disrupt

賽門鐵克（納斯達克：SYMC）今日發佈第23期網路安全威脅報告（Internet Security Threat Report，ISTR），報告顯示，由於勒索軟體市場贖金過高且趨於飽和，網路攻擊者正在迅速將加密貨幣劫持用於網路攻擊，找到一條牟取暴利的新出路。過去一年，加密貨幣價值的激增引發了一場加密貨幣劫持(Cryptojacking)攻擊的“淘金熱”，網路攻擊者同樣試圖從這一變化莫測的市場中獲利。2017年，在全球終端電腦上所檢測到的惡意挖礦程式暴增8,500%。在加密貨幣挖礦攻擊中，台灣在亞太區排名第8位，全球排名第28位。
賽門鐵克公司大中華區首席營運官羅少輝表示：「加密貨幣劫持對網路與個人安全的威脅日益加劇。在巨大利益的驅使下，個人、設備和企業系統的資源在網路攻擊者利用未經授權的惡意挖礦程式竊取，將企業與消費者置於威脅之中，這進一步促使攻擊者將攻擊目標轉向從家用電腦到大型資料中心的各個領域。」
Taipei, Taiwan – April 18, 2018 – Cyber criminals are rapidly adding cryptojacking to their arsenal and creating a highly profitable new revenue stream, as the ransomware market becomes overpriced and overcrowded, according to Symantec's (Nasdaq: SYMC) Internet Security Threat Report (ISTR), Volume 23, released today.

“Cryptojacking is a rising threat to cyber and personal security,” said Victor Law, Chief Operating Officer, Greater China Region, Symantec. “The massive profit incentive puts people, devices and organizations at risk of unauthorized coin miners siphoning resources from their systems, further motivating criminals to infiltrate everything from home PCs to giant data centers.”
Symantec's ISTR provides a comprehensive view of the threat landscape, including insights into global threat activity, cyber criminal trends and motivations for attackers. The report analyzes data from the Symantec Global Intelligence Network™, the largest civilian threat collection network in the world, records events from 126.5 million attack sensors worldwide, and monitors threat activities in over 157 countries and territories. Key highlights include:
Cryptojacking Attacks Explode by 8,500 Percent
During the past year, an astronomical rise in cryptocurrency values triggered a cryptojacking gold rush with cyber criminals attempting to cash in on a volatile market. Detections of coinminers on endpoint computers increased by 8,500 percent in 2017. Taiwan ranks 8th in the Asia-Pacific Japan (APJ) region, 28th globally in terms of crypto mining activities.
With a low barrier of entry – only requiring a couple lines of code to operate – cyber criminals are harnessing stolen processing power and cloud CPU usage from consumers and enterprises to mine cryptocurrency. Coinminers can slow devices, overheat batteries, and in some cases, render devices unusable. For enterprise organizations, coinminers can put corporate networks at risk of shutdown and inflate cloud CPU usage, adding cost.
“Now you could be fighting for resources on your phone, computer or IoT device as attacks use them for profit,” said Dragon Chang, Principal Systems Engineer, Taiwan, Symantec, “People need to expand their defenses or they will pay for the price for someone else using their device.”

IoT devices continue to be ripe targets for exploitation. Symantec found a 600 percent increase in overall IoT attacks in 2017, which means that cyber criminals could exploit the connected nature of these devices to mine en masse. Macs are not immune either with Symantec detecting an 80 percent increase in coin mining attacks against Mac OS. By leveraging browser-based attacks, criminals do not need to download malware to a victim’s Mac or PC to carry out cyber attacks.
Majority of Targeted Attackers Use Single Method to Infect Victims
The number of targeted attack groups is on the rise with Symantec now tracking 140 organized groups. Last year, 71 percent of all targeted attacks started with spear phishing – the oldest trick in the book – to infect their victims. As targeted attack groups continue to leverage tried and true tactics to infiltrate organizations, the use of zero-day threats is falling out of favor. Only 27 percent of targeted attack groups have been known to use zero-day vulnerabilities at any point in the past.
The security industry has long discussed what type of destruction might be possible with cyber attacks. This conversation has now moved beyond the theoretical, with one in ten targeted attack groups using malware designed to disrupt.
Implanted Malware Grows by 200 Percent, Compromising Software Supply Chain
Symantec identified a 200 percent increase in attackers injecting malware implants into the software supply chain in 2017. That’s equivalent to one attack every month as compared to four attacks the previous year. Hijacking software updates provides attackers with an entry point for compromising well-guarded networks. The Petya outbreak was the most notable example of a supply chain attack. After using Ukrainian accounting software as the point of entry, Petya used a variety of methods to spread laterally across corporate networks to deploy their malicious payload.
Mobile Malware Continues to Surge
Threats in the mobile space continue to grow year-over-year, including the number of new mobile malware variants which increased by 54 percent. Symantec blocked an average of 24,000 malicious mobile applications each day last year. As older operating systems continue to be in use, this problem is exacerbated. For example, with the Android operating system, only 20 percent of devices are running the newest version and only 2.3 percent are on the latest minor release.
Mobile users also face privacy risks from grayware apps that aren’t completely malicious but can be troublesome. Symantec found that 63 percent of grayware apps leak the device’s phone number. With grayware increasing by 20 percent in 2017, this isn’t a problem that’s going away.
Business-Savvy Cyber Criminals Price Ransomware for Profit
In 2016, the profitability of ransomware led to a crowded market. In 2017, the market made a correction, lowering the average ransom cost to $522 and signaling that ransomware has become a commodity. In 2017, Taiwan ranks sixth in terms of ransomware threats in the APJ region, as compared to 11th 2016.
Many cyber criminals may have shifted their focus to coin mining as an alternative to cashing in while cryptocurrency values are high. Additionally, while the number of ransomware families decreased, the number of ransomware variants increased by 46 percent, indicating that criminal groups are innovating less but are still very productive.
From the Experts: Security Best Practices
As attackers evolve, there are many steps businesses can take to protect themselves. As a starting point, Symantec recommends the following best practices.
For businesses:
Don’t get caught flat-footed: Use advanced threat intelligence solutions to help you find indicators of compromise and respond faster to incidents.
Prepare for the worst: Incident management ensures your security framework is optimized, measurable and repeatable, and that lessons learned improve your security posture. Consider adding a retainer with a third-party expert to help manage crises.
Implement a multi-layered defense: Implement a multilayered defense strategy that addresses attack vectors at the gateway, mail server and endpoint. This also should include two-factor authentication, intrusion detection or protection systems (IPS), website vulnerability malware protection, and web security gateway solutions throughout the network.
Provide ongoing training about malicious email: Educate employees on the dangers posed by spear-phishing emails and other malicious email attacks, including where to internally report such attempts.
Monitor your resources: Make sure to monitor your resources and networks for abnormal and suspicious behavior and correlate it with threat intelligence from experts.
For consumers:
Change the default passwords on your devices and services: Use strong and unique passwords for computers, IoT devices and Wi-Fi networks. Don’t use common or easily guessable passwords such as “123456” or “password”.
Keep your operating system and software up to date: Software updates will frequently include patches for newly discovered security vulnerabilities that could be exploited by attackers.
Be extra careful on email: Email is one of the top infection methods. Delete any suspicious-looking email you receive, especially if they contain links and/or attachments. Be extremely wary of any Microsoft Office email attachment that advises you to enable macros to view its content.
Back up your files: Backing up your data is the single most effective way of combating a ransomware infection. Attackers can have leverage over their victims by encrypting their files and leaving them inaccessible. If you have backup copies, you can restore your files once the infection has been cleaned up.