Ransomware attacks grew threefold in 2017

Malware attacks grew by more than 13% in 2017, with ransomware attacks increasing threefold, according to the latest Cylance Threat Report.

The AI-based advanced threat protection company prevented 3918 attacks on enterprises over the course of the year, an increase of around 13.4% over 2016, the report states.

The top impacted industry during the year was the healthcare sector (58% of attacks), followed by food and hospitality (13%), manufacturing (10%) and professional services (6%). Ransomware attacks, while targeting all industries, likewise also targeted the healthcare sector the most.

Cylance estimates that 50% to 70% of the attacks recorded during the year exploited known vulnerabilities that had been reported more than nine months prior to the attack, suggesting that companies are still exposing themselves to risk with lax software upgrade practices.

Older vulnerabilities have become very popular for coin mining malware in particular, the report states.

The most common infection vectors remained email phishing and drive-by downloads.

The report also finds that attackers are evolving their tactics to avoid detection, such as by developing single-use, highly targeted malware that is difficult to detect without advanced threat protection capabilities.

More than 70% of threats blocked by Cylance in 2017 were never seen by anyone other than Cylance.

“Cybercriminals are adept at modifying their malware and methods to stay ahead of traditional protections that organisations deploy, as seen by the rise in infections and sophistication of attacks in 2017,” Cylance worldwide CTO Rahul Kashyap said.

“It’s critical that companies are aware of the threats, keep up to date with patches and use defences that protect against constantly evolving malware.”

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