IT Security Information
Get regular updates on current threats such as ransomware, phishing, CEO fraud and business email compromise.
1 of every 4 companies suffered at least one email security breach, Hornetsecurity survey finds
Email security is one of the main topics of concern for any IT department, and for good reason. Security breaches often lead to loss of sensitive data, operation downtime, and lost revenue. So we conducted an email security survey of 420+ businesses, and found that 23% of them, or 1 in 4, reported an email-related security breach. Of these security breaches, 36% were caused by phishing attacks targeting arguably the weakest point of any security system, end users…
REvil ransomware supply-chain attack against MSP provider customers via exploiting Kaseya VSA
Summary On Friday (2021-07-02), the REvil ransomware group compromised MSP providers via Kaseya VSA servers. It used this access to infect customers of these MSPs with ransomware in a large-scale supply-chain attack. Background Kaseya VSA is a "Unified Remote...
Increase in cybercrime in the pre-Christmas season
New Infopaper gives tips on how to best protect your businessThe year is coming to an end, and the earliest shoppers are thinking about what to give their loved ones for Christmas. Online stores and local businesses in turn are preparing for the high-volume,...
Leakware-Ransomware-Hybrid Attacks
Since December 2019, ransomware operators have been using leakware/ransomware hybrid attacks more and more often. These attacks combine the classic ransomware attack with a leakware attack. In a classic ransomware attack, the victim’s data is encrypted and is only decrypted back after the victim pays a ransom fee to the ransomware operators. In a leakware attack, the data is stolen, and the victim is blackmailed with the data being published publicly unless he pays a certain fee.
In a leakware/ransomware hybrid attack, the data is first stolen, then encrypted. Then the victim is first asked to pay the ransom for decryption. If the victim declines to pay the ransom, the attackers threaten him to release the stolen data publicly. In some cases, business partners and/or customers of the victim are also contacted and informed of the impending data release to put even more pressure on the victim.
Emotet in encrypted attachments – A growing cyber threat
The cybercriminals behind the banking Trojan Emotet are working hard to circumvent anti-virus filters with various tricks and spread the malware on many more systems. From email conversation thread hijacking, through changes of the web shells, to updating the Emotet-loader, which led to a huge increase in malware downloads. Now Emotet is again sending encrypted attachments via its malspam to further expand its botnet network…
Email Conversation Thread Hijacking
You should only open email attachments and links from senders you know is an advice often given when it comes to preventing email-based malware and phishing attacks. However, in this article we outline an attack technique called email conversation thread hijacking, which uses victim’s existing email conversations and thus trust-relationships to spread to new victims. Against this attack the previous advice will not help. We explain how email conversation thread hijacking is used by attackers, and why it dramatically increases the likelihood for victims to open malicious links or malicious attachments.
Emotet Update increases Downloads
The Hornetsecurity Security Lab observed a 1000 % increase in downloads of the Emotet loader. The increase in Emotet loader downloads correlates with Emotet’s packer change, which causes the Emotet loader to be less detected by AV software.
Our gathered data suggests that the increase in Emotet loader downloads stems from the loader being detected less and thus also the Emotet loader download URLs being blocked less by security mechanisms. Our data, however, also suggests that AV vendors are already closing the detection gap and the detection of the Emotet loader should increase again and thus the number of downloads decreasing again. This analysis is a good display of the impact of the changes to the Emotet loader’s packer.
The Hornetsecurity Security Lab publishes new figures: about 70% of all emails are unwanted
Around 300 billion e-mails are sent every day - the number of e-mails sent and received for private and business purposes is forecast to rise to 361.6 billion by 2024. However, not all e-mails that end up in users' inboxes are wanted, and unwanted e-mails not only...
The new Cyberthreat Report
Brand new – 2nd Cyberthreat Report in 2020
The brand new Cyberthreat Report tells you all about current cyberthreats and gives you access to exclusive numbers and statistics.
