The growth in frequency and severity of cyberattacks has caused organizations to rethink their security strategies. Major recent security threats, such as high-profile ransomware attacks and the Log4Shell vulnerabilities disclosed in 2021, have led to a greater focus on identity protection as adversaries rely on valid credentials to move laterally across target networks.
On Feb. 23, 2022, destructive attacks were conducted against Ukrainian entities. Industry reporting has claimed the Go-based ransomware dubbed PartyTicket (or HermeticRansom) was identified at several organizations affected by the attack,1 among other families including a sophisticated wiper CrowdStrike Intelligence tracks as DriveSlayer (HermeticWiper).
Many countries around the world recognized Data Protection Day in January — a day that highlights the importance of protecting individual privacy and data against misuse. The U.S. celebrated Data Privacy Day, where privacy and security have often been seen as two separate issues. This is evidenced by the way law has historically developed.
On Feb. 23, 2022, a new wiper malware was reported publicly as affecting Ukrainian-based systems. Following a series of denial-of-service attacks and website defacements, the new destructive malware corrupts the master boot record (MBR), partition and file system of all available physical drives on Windows machines. CrowdStrike Intelligence refers to this new destructive malware as DriveSlayer, and it’s the second wiper to affect Ukraine following the recent WhisperGate.
The job for CIOs, CISOs and their security and IT teams may be more complex than ever in 2022. Ongoing support for hybrid workforces, coupled with the continued shift to the cloud, has expanded the threat surface. At the same time, the infrastructure and environments supporting organizations are growing ever more vulnerable. According to the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), more than 18,000 vulnerabilities were reported in 2021.
Migrating to the cloud has allowed many organizations to reduce costs, innovate faster and deliver business results more effectively. However, as businesses expand their cloud investments, they must adapt their security strategies to stay one step ahead of threats that target their expanded environment. Managing, securing and having visibility across endpoints, networks and workloads is not an easy feat. It requires a unified defense-in-depth approach.
Access brokers have become a key component of the eCrime threat landscape, selling access to threat actors and facilitating myriad criminal activities. Many have established relationships with big game hunting (BGH) ransomware operators and affiliates of prolific ransomware-as-a-Service (RaaS) programs.
Adversaries are becoming more adept and sophisticated in their attacks. Taking advantage of vulnerabilities present in major software is often an attractive entry point for establishing a campaign within an enterprise environment. The CrowdStrike 2022 Global Threat Report highlights how adversaries continue to shift tradecraft and weaponize vulnerabilities to evade detection and gain access to critical applications and infrastructure.
As technology continues to evolve rapidly, so do the techniques used by adversaries. This may be considered a given, but it is important to appreciate how attackers may leverage existing and commonly used applications within an environment to attempt to seize control and achieve their objectives.
