TRENDING
response ( EDR ), expert threat hunting , strong passwords and employee education to properly defend their environments .”
Some of the notable report findings include :
• First half of 2020 hands-on-keyboard intrusion activity surpasses all of 2019 : OverWatch observed an explosion in hands-on-keyboard intrusions in the first half of 2020 that has already surpassed the total seen throughout all of 2019 . This significant increase is driven primarily by the continued acceleration of e-crime activity but has also been impacted by the effects of the pandemic , which presented an expanded attack surface as organizations rapidly adopted remote workforces and created opportunities for adversaries to exploit public fear through COVID-19 themed social engineering strategies .
• E-crime continues to increase in volume and reach : Sophisticated e-crime activity continues to outpace state-sponsored activity , an upward trend that OverWatch has witnessed over the past three years , accounting for over 80 % of interactive intrusions . This does not indicate a reduction in
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JUST LIKE EVERYTHING THIS YEAR , THE THREAT LANDSCAPE HAS PROVEN UNPREDICTABLE AND PRECARIOUS .
nation-state activity , but rather reflects the extraordinary success threat actors have seen with targeted intrusions using ransomware and Ransomwareas-a-Service ( RaaS ) models , which have contributed to a proliferation of activity from a wider array of e-crime actors .
• Targeting of the manufacturing sector increases dramatically : There was a sharp escalation of activity in the manufacturing sector in the first half of 2020 in terms of both the quantity and sophistication of intrusions from both e-criminals and nation states , making it the second most targeted vertical observed by OverWatch . Healthcare and food and beverage also saw increased targeting , suggesting that adversaries have adjusted their targets to the shifting economic conditions resulting from the pandemic , focusing on industries made vulnerable by complex operating environments that experienced sudden changes in demand .
• China continues its aim at telecommunications companies : The telecommunications industry continues to be a popular target for the nationstates , specifically China . OverWatch observed six different China-based actors , whose motivations are likely associated with espionage and data theft objectives , conducting campaigns against telecommunications companies in the first half of the year .
• CrowdStrike OverWatch comprises an elite team of cross-disciplinary specialists that provide deep and continuous human analysis on a 24 / 7 basis to relentlessly hunt for anomalous activity designed to evade other detection techniques . OverWatch harnesses the massive power of the
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