Industry Contribution
SOFTWARE SECURITY SEES
COVID-19-THEMED THREATS SURGE
By Christiaan Beek , lLead Scientist and Senior Principal Engineer at McAfee
McAfee has released its latest data analysis in April this year , examining cybercriminal activity and the evolution of cyber threats .
At the end of 2020 , McAfee observed nearly 7.5 million external attacks on cloud user accounts across all major industries globally , including financial services , healthcare , public sector , education , retail , technology , manufacturing , energy , utilities , legal , real estate , transportation , and business services .
The increase in cloud attacks is due in large to the impact of Covid-19 factors . Cybercriminals have since adjusted their campaigns to lure victims with pandemic themes and exploit the realities of the masses now working from home .
The top findings in the report include :
• Attacks on cloud services users reached nearly 7.5 million
• McAfee ' s global network of over a billion sensors registered a 605 % increase in Covid-themed threat detections
• PowerShell malware surge of 117 % due to proliferation of malicious Donoff documents
• New malware samples grew 11.5 %
• New coinmining malware increased 25 % with adoption of new Coinminer applications
• Publicly disclosed security incidents rose 22 %; incidents targeting the technology industry increase 91 %
McAfee Corporation , the global device-to-cloud cybersecurity company ’ s latest report examining cybercriminal activity related to malware and the evolution of cyber threats has seen a significant increase of attacks across the board .
An average of 419 new threats per minute as overall new malware samples grew by 11.5 %. A significant proliferation in malicious Donoff Microsoft Office documents attacks propelled new PowerShell malware up 117 %, and the global impact of Covid-19 prompted cybercriminals to adjust their cybercrime campaigns to lure victims with pandemic themes and exploit the realities of a workforce working from home .
The period saw continued developments in innovative threat categories such as PowerShell malware and the quick adaptation by cybercriminals to target organisations through employees working from remote environments .
What began as a trickle of phishing campaigns and the occasional malicious app quickly turned into a deluge of malicious URLs , attacks on cloud users and capable threat actors
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leveraging the world ’ s thirst for more information on Covid-19 as an entry mechanism into systems across the globe .
DONOFF & POWERSHELL MALWARE Donoff Microsoft Office documents act as Trojan-Downloaders by leveraging the Windows Command shell to launch PowerShell and proceed to download and execute malicious files . Donoff played a critical role in driving the 689 % surge in PowerShell malware at the beginning of 2020 . For the rest of the year , the acceleration of Donoff-related malware growth slowed but remained robust , driving up PowerShell malware by 117 % and helping to drive a 103 % increase in overall new Microsoft Office malware . This activity should be viewed within the context of the overall continued growth trend in PowerShell threats . In 2019 , total samples of PowerShell malware grew 1902 %.
ATTACKS ON CLOUD USERS McAfee observed nearly 7.5 million external attacks on cloud user accounts . This is based on the aggregation and anonymisation of cloud usage data from more than 30 million McAfee cloud users worldwide during the period . This data set represents companies in all major industries across the globe , including financial services , healthcare , public sector , education , retail , technology , manufacturing , energy , utilities , legal , real estate , transportation , and business services . RACA
Cyber threats have increased exponentially primarily driven by masses of employees now working from home .
www . hvacronline . co . za RACA Journal I September 2021 55