Security Architecture, Endpoint/Device Security, IoT, Threat Management, Threat Management, Endpoint/Device Security, Endpoint/Device Security, Endpoint/Device Security

Kaspersky Q3 report: attackers grow more sophisticated

Kaspersky Lab researchers spotted an increase in DDoS botnets in Western Europe and said that for the first time in a year, the TOP 10 most attacked countries included three Western European countries – Italy, France and Germany, as attackers are growing more sophisticated.

While the three nations were in the top ten, the countries only made up a combined percentage of 1.29 percent of the activity monitored while China led tremendously in first place accounting for 72.62 percent of those targeted followed by the U.S. in second place, accounting for 12.81 percent, according to the firm's 2016 Q3 DDoS Intelligence report.

The report also found that resources in 67 countries were targeted by DDoS attacks in Q3 2016, compared to. 70 in the second quarter.

Researchers said that classic botnet attacks based on malware tools such as Pandora, and Drive have been well researched as researchers have developed simple methods of neutralizing attacks that utilize these tools.

As a result, threat actors have been forced to use more sophisticated attack methods including data encryption and new approaches to the development of tools used for organizing attacks and building botnets.

 Researchers also noted that the scale of the global “Cybercrime as a Service' infrastructure has fully commercialized as attacks reach proportions and volumes never seen before.  

Kaspersky Lab Lead Malware Analyst, Anti-Botnets, Oleg Kupreev, told SC Media that the pressure to put quickly put new inexpensive IoT products on the market affects the security of these devices.

“In the future, IoT devices will become an even more popular tool for cybercriminals because of their vulnerability for cyberattacks,” Kupreev said. “Moreover, as these devices have very limited memory, storage and operational capacity, it is difficult, if not impossible, to install security software on them.”

He added that in addition to the new attacks these products will enable, we can expect to see new criminal schemes which exploit the unsecured devices and that the most critical security measure is to encourage security by design.

“Governments also have an important role to play in establishing minimum standards that all smart devices should meet before they can be marketed and this should include a security standard,” he said. “After all, consumers have come to rely on such standards to ensure that children's toys are safe, that soft furnishings are fire-retardant etc.”

Lastly, Kupreev said it's important to educate consumers and business on how to protect their smart devices. In the future, he predicts the most popular targets of DDoS attacks will be companies that are actively developing web-services – governmental, financial and e-commerce companies, and big public resources

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