New tricks in old game: Cyber crooks devise new ways to get around security

Individuals, organisations and enterprises today are much more aware about the importance of cybersecurity than ever before. But this has hardly deterred cyber criminals who continue to find innovative ways to carry out their activities. According to the mid-year cybersecurity trends report for 2019 by security software firm Check Point, cyberattackers are now deploying new fashion tools and techniques targetting corporate cloud infrastructure, mobile devices, emails showcasing that no environment is immune to cyberattacks. 

Top Botnet Malware in H12019

Emotet (29%): Once used to employ as a banking Trojan, this advanced, self-propagate and modular Trojan is now used as a distributor to other malware or malicious campaigns. It uses multiple methods to persistently avoid detection  

Dorkbot (18%): An internet relay chat (IRC)-based worm capable of executing codes remotely and downloading additional malware to the infected system. Main intention is to steal sensitive information and launch denial-of-service attacks

Trickbot (11%): A Dyre variant of malware, it emerged in October 2016, targeting banks mostly in Australia and the UK. It has now started spreading to India, Singapore and Malaysia 

Top Mobile Malware in H1 2019

Triada (30%): A modular backdoor for Android, which grants super user privileges to downloaded malware, as it helps it to get embedded into system processes

Lotoor (11%): A hack tool that exploits vulnerabilities on Android operating system to gain root privileges on compromised mobile devices

Hidad (7%): An Android malware that repackages legitimate apps and then releases them to a third-party store. It is able to gain access to key security details in the OS and steal sensitive user data

India in the eye of attack 

According to a report by SonicWall, India saw a 25 per cent increase in malware attacks in the first half of 2019, even as the global market saw a reduction in such attacks. It said though India registered a 62 per cent decline in reported cases of ransomware volume during this period, there was a huge increase in the number of encrypted attacks at 2.4 million, almost eclipsing the 2018 full-year total. 

Filing Cybersecurity patents

The number of cybersecurity-related patents filed worldwide grew 27.2 per cent since 2016, according to the State of Cyber Security Report 2019 by IT services firm Wipro, reflecting the increasing focus on cybersecurity-related research and product innovation. Majority of these patents were in the areas of data and content security. In terms of cumulative patent filing in this space over 2016-18, India stood third. China and the US led in the area, the report added.