With the continuing rise of ransomware, malware defenses are more critical than ever before with regard to securing the enterprise. Anti-Malware technologies have become an afterthought in many organizations, a technology that they’ve always had, always used, and never really thought about. This control serves as a reminder that this technology is as critical as it ever was and lays out the minimum requirements for ensuring your malware defenses are up to the task.

Every day, threat actors devise new plans for breaking into secure systems. The steps they take, from researching a target to carrying out the attack, are known as the cyber kill chain. Traditionally, that kill chain has targeted devices and networks that lie completely within your organization’s control. For better or worse, mobile and cloud-based work have upended that dynamic.

Hellcat ransomware emerged in early November 2024 and quickly became a notable threat in the cybersecurity landscape. The group first gained attention on November 6, 2024, when it claimed responsibility for a cyberattack against Schneider Electric. Known for its aggressive tactics and unique ransom demands, Hellcat is already making its mark in the world of ransomware.

A year ago, Bitsight TRACE published a blog post on Socks55Systemz,a proxy malware with minimal mentions in the threat intelligence community at the time. In that post, we correlated a Telegram user to the botnet operation and estimated its size at around 10,000 compromised systems. After a year-long investigation, we are shedding new light on these conclusions.

Cyjax has continued to observe the emergence of data-leak sites (DLSs) for extortion and ransomware groups, with ContFR, Argonauts, Kairos, Chort, and Termite, appearing November 2024 alone. Cyjax has identified the emergence of a Tor-based DLS belonging to a new, self-called “cybercrime group” named ‘Funksec’. This group has claimed 11 victims so far and advertises a free Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) tool.

Mimic is family of ransomware, first found in-the-wild in 2022. In common with many other ransomware attacks, Mimic encrypts a victim's files, and demands a ransom payment in cryptocurrency for the release of a decryption key.

An “Evil Proxy” is a malicious proxy server used by attackers to intercept and change the communication between a client and a legitimate server. It is also known as Phishing-as-a-Service (PhaaS), where the attackers attempt to deceive individuals into providing sensitive information such as usernames, passwords, and credit card numbers.

TellYouThePass ransomware, first seen in 2019, is once again in the spotlight due to its recent activity. This ransomware has been found exploiting critical vulnerabilities in PHP, specifically the CVE-2024-4577 flaw, putting both Windows and Linux systems at risk. The malware uses advanced techniques like web shells and fileless malware to gain entry, highlighting the need for robust cybersecurity measures.

In the time it takes you to finish this post — perhaps even this sentence — it is more than likely that ransomware will disrupt yet another business, causing extensive delays and irrevocable damage. Across the globe, ransomware attacks continue to increase in frequency, sophistication, and consequence, littering headlines with cautionary tales and sobering statistics. Over the next decade, Cybersecurity Ventures predicts that global ransomware damage will grow by 30 percent annually.