Cyber security: what are the most common cyber threats?
Microsoft recently released the 24th edition of the Microsoft Security Intelligence Report, providing a detailed overview of the most common cyber threats in 2018 and guidelines to improve the security level.
The survey is based on the analysis of 6,500 billion threats that pass daily in the Microsoft cloud, to which are added the insights of thousands of researchers working in the field of cyber security all over the world.
The study found that cyber criminals were forced to change their strategies during 2018 to deal with the new defensive techniques adopted globally. Thus, a new scenario is emerging, to which we must approach exploiting the latest technologies: cloud, artificial intelligence and machine learning. Solutions that provide companies with a certain flexibility and the ability to work on the move and in security.
Ransomware, miner and phishing: what to expect for 2019
Ransomware attacks, which in the past had been one of the most dangerous security threats, fell by around 60% between March 2017 and December 2018. A decrease linked to the evolution of security technologies and greater attention from users, who led cyber criminals to change strategies. In Italy, however, ransomware continues to be one of the biggest threats to the safety of public companies, due to the resistance of the institutions to adopt new security technologies.
In response to this decline, there has been an increase in cryptocurrency mining. Attackers install malware on users' computers to steal the computing power required for mining. An increase dictated by the ability of the miner to remain silent and unnoticed, as they operate in background and are difficult to identify without endpoint protection tools, necessary to monitor the active processes and the outgoing traffic. Worthy of note is the diffusion of a new type of miner, based entirely on the web browser, which performs cryptocurrency mining when navigating an infected site.
Another very common tactic among cyber criminals involves the insertion of a harmful component in a legitimate application or in periodically released updates. This type of attack is difficult to identify as it exploits the trust that users have towards the vendor.
The report noticed that phishing is still the most common attack method used by the cyber criminals. In the course of 2018, the percentage of phishing messages has in fact increased by 250%. A trend that does not seem destined to decrease in the immediate future.
It is therefore essential for all companies, public and private, to take advantage of the latest technologies that can analyse incoming traffic and intercept threats to computer security, to avoid the theft of sensitive data or business interruptions.
For the development of appropriate cyber security solutions, request right now a free consultation with our experts.
