Cybercriminals are getting more devious than ever
They’re sharing expertise and taking advantage of cloud, BlackBerry research claims.
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
Cybercriminals are getting more devious than ever, a new report fromBlackBerryargues, claiming that they’re optimizing their infrastructure, sharing resources, and creatively taking advantage of the transition to cloud, to stealidentitiesand wreak ultimate havoc among small and medium-sized businesses.
“Criminals are working out how to target us better. The infrastructure of the cyber underground has evolved so they can deliver more timely and personalized deceptions to the public,” said Eric Milam, Vice President of Research and Intelligence, BlackBerry.
“This infrastructure has also incubated a criminal shared economy, with threat groups sharing and outsourcing malware allowing for attacks to happen at scale. In fact, some of the biggest cyber incidents of 2021 look to have been the result of this outsourcing.”
We’re looking at how our readers use VPNs with different devices so we can improve our content and offer better advice. This survey shouldn’t take more than 60 seconds of your time. Thank you for taking part.
Click here to start the survey in a new window«
Teamwork makes the ransomware work
According to the report, small businesses continue being “an epicenter” for cybercriminal focus. Today, SMBs are looking at more than 11 cyberthreats perendpointeach day, a figure which will most likely only grow, in the future, “as cybercriminals adopt collaborative mindsets”.
In fact, one of the biggest attacks to happen in 2021 shows just how collaborative they can be. In multiple incidents, BlackBerry found threat actors leaving behind playbook text files, with IP addresses and other information. The company surmised that ransomware builders and ransomware operators often aren’t the same people.
Furthermore, threat actors are taking advantage of the digital transformation, and the ease of use provided by cloud computing, to distribute malware. The majority the payloads hosted on public clouds are “highly malleable”, BlackBerry states, meaning they can be cheaply customized.
SMBs are more worried about cybersecurity now than they were pre-pandemic>SMB employees are taking risks on unsecure devices>Most businesses now have a ransomware payout policy
“This trend was especially prevalent in North America, where local hosting of vicious payloads including Cobalt Strike surged,” it says.
Are you a pro? Subscribe to our newsletter
Sign up to the TechRadar Pro newsletter to get all the top news, opinion, features and guidance your business needs to succeed!
To keep up with the times and ensure the general safety of their operations, businesses are advised to adopt the zero-trust strategy, BlackBerry concludes. The Biden Administration recently rolled out itsZero Truststrategy, and widely adopting the new approach to security is “imperative” across all sectors, BlackBerry added.
Sead is a seasoned freelance journalist based in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. He writes about IT (cloud, IoT, 5G, VPN) and cybersecurity (ransomware, data breaches, laws and regulations). In his career, spanning more than a decade, he’s written for numerous media outlets, including Al Jazeera Balkans. He’s also held several modules on content writing for Represent Communications.
Phishing attacks surge in 2024 as cybercriminals adopt AI tools and multi-channel tactics
This new phishing strategy utilizes GitHub comments to distribute malware
Smeg Combi Steam Oven review: a multi-functional countertop oven that looks stunning and cooks well
