‘Internet Security Threat Report’

• ‘Internet Security Threat Report’ has been released by Symantec. Countries are ranked based on their vulnerability.
• These rankings are based on eight parameters – malware, spam, phishing, bots, network attacks, web attacks, ransomware and cryptominers.

Important highlights:

• There has been 8,500% increase in detected cryptojacking malware on endpoints in 2017. This is because cryptocurrency mining has a low barrier to entry than ransomware for much better profitably.
• A commonly forgotten truth about cryptocurrency mining codes—they may be less flashy than ransomware, but no less devastating.
• Cryptojacking can cause severe performance issues, higher electricity demands, and even rendering some devices unusable.
• More hackers infect supply chains—200% increase in such attacks. Hacking into software updates, a common attack vector, allows for far easier infiltration into your enterprise’s network.
• Ransomware is now a commodity used by (malicious and unscrupulous) economic actors. And like any commodity, ransomware can have its ups and downs. After the market became flooded and demands went too high, it appears ransomware has corrected itself with fewer families demanding less ransom per attack.
• Mobile threats saw a 54% increase in new variants in 2017. Last year also saw 24,000 malicious mobile apps blocked per day. Only a small percentage of mobile endpoints use the latest operating system available, which leaves them more vulnerable.
• Symantec also highlights the threat of grayware—applications that are not outright malicious but can prove dangerous all the same. 63% of grayware applications leak the device’s phone number.
• India is the third-most vulnerable country in terms of cyber threat risks including malware, spam, ransomware and one of the most recent and difficult-to-detect ones – cryptominers.
• India continues to be second-most impacted by spam and bots and third-most impacted by network attacks and fourth-most impacted by ransomware.
• In terms of cryptomining activities, India has ranked second in Asia-Pacific and Japan region (APJ), and ninth globally.

By: Vishal