INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
New research from CrowdStrike has revealed that ransomware remained the top threat targeting businesses last year followed by banking
trojans and malware downloaders.The cybersecurity firm's 2020 CrowdStrike Global Threat Report found that financially motivated cybercrime
in the tactics being used by cybercriminals and increasing ransom demands from eCrime actors
These cybercriminals have also begun conducting data exfiltration with the aim of weaponizing sensitive data through threats of leaking
either embarrassing or proprietary information.Nation-state adversaries were also quite active throughout 2019 and they targeted a wide
CrowdStrike's report found that the telecommunications industry was targeted with increased frequency by threat actors such as China and
CrowdStrike Intelligence believes that China and other nations have an interest in targeting this sector in order to steal intellectual
property and competitive intelligence.According to the report, the trend toward malware-free tactics also accelerated last year with
malware-free attacks surpassing the volume of malware attacks
In 2019, 51 percent of attacks used malware-free techniques compared to 40 percent in 2018 and this underscores the need for businesses to
move beyond traditional antivirus solutions.When it came to ransomware attacks, the industries targeted include local governments and
municipalities, academic institutions, the technology sector, healthcare, manufacturing, financial services and media companies.To combat
threats from sophisticated nation-state and eCrime adversaries, CrowdStrike recommends that businesses adopt the 1-10-60 rule
Essentially what this means is that organizations should be able to detect intrusions in under one minute, investigate in 10 minutes and
contain and eliminate the adversary in 60 minutes
Organizations that meet this benchmark are much more likely to eradicate threats before they can spread from their initial entry point.Vice
president of intelligence at CrowdStrike, Adam Meyers provided further insight on the findings of the firm's report, saying:"2019 brought
an onslaught of new techniques from nation-state actors and an increasingly complex eCrime underground filled with brazen tactics and
massive increases in targeted ransomware demands
As such, modern security teams must employ technologies to detect, investigate and remediate incidents faster with swift preemptive
countermeasures, such as threat intelligence, and follow the 1-10-60 rule."
