by titanadmin | Aug 9, 2017 | Email Scams, Phishing & Email Spam, Spam News, Spam Software |
Global spam email levels have been rising, with spam volume in July soaring to levels not seen since March 2015.
The figures come from the Symantec monthly threat report, which uses data from the Global Intelligence Network (GIN). Last month, global spam email levels increased by 0.6 percentage points to 54.9% of total email volume. The industry that received the most spam emails was the mining sector, with 59.1% of emails categorized as spam.
Spam emails include unsolicited marketing emails, offers of cut price medications and notices about women who have been trawling the internet for a man like you. While many of these emails are simply junk, the volume of malicious messages has been rising. In particular, spam messages containing malware.
Symantec reports that email malware has increased to levels not seen since December 2016. Last month, one in every 359 spam emails was used to deliver malware. The previous month, one in every 451 emails contained malware. The industry that received the most email malware levels was the agriculture, forestry and fishing sector, with one in every 152 emails containing malware.
Malware and Phishing Emails at The Highest Level Seen This Year
Malicious emails are being sent in campaigns targeting medium sized businesses, which registered the highest percentage of malware emails. Businesses with between 251 and 500 employees had the highest volume of malware in their inboxes, according to Symantec’s analysis. Large businesses – organizations with between 1,001 and 1,500 employees – had the highest rate of spam delivery as a whole.
While malware emails increased, the number of malware variants used in those emails dropped to 58.7 million variants from 66.3 million the previous month. Symantec notes that several malware families have now started being spread via email, which has contributed to the malware email volume.
In the past month, malware variants have been detected that are capable of generating their own spam emails from the infected device and sending malware copies to the victims’ entire address books. The Emotet banking Trojan now has this functionality and Reyptson malware also, with the latter sending itself to Thunderbird contacts.
This month, Microsoft has discovered a new tech support scam that is being distributed via spam email. Spam emails spoofing brands are being sent in large campaigns with links to websites that generate popups warning of suspicious activity and malware infections.
Symantec notes the volume of phishing emails has also increased with levels now at a 12-month high. One in 1,968 emails are used for phishing. Phishing attacks on the mining industry sector were the most common with one in 1,263 emails used for phishing, indicating targeted attacks are occurring.
Increase in Global Spam Email Levels Highlights Need for Effective Spam Filtering
The rise in global spam email levels highlights the need for an advanced email spam filter. Spam is a major drain on productivity and malware and phishing attacks are costly to mitigate. Employee security awareness programs are effective at preventing employees from falling for phishing scams, although a technological solution should be implemented to prevent spam emails from reaching inboxes. SpamTitan blocks more than 99.9% of spam and dual antivirus engines prevent the delivery of known malware.
If you are looking for the best spam filter for business use and want to protect your users and network from malicious emails, contact the TitanHQ team today for more information on SpamTitan.
by titanadmin | Aug 7, 2017 | Network Security, Phishing & Email Spam, Spam News |
Trickbot malware is a banking Trojan that has been around for a few years now, although its authors have recently developed a WannaCry ransomware-style worm module that allows it to spread much more rapidly.
The recent NotPetya attacks also included a similar module enabling the malware to be used in devastating attacks that wiped out entire systems.
This new method of speeding up the spread of malware takes advantage of a vulnerability in Windows Server Message Block, which is used to identify all vulnerable computers on a network that connect via the Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP).
Since the exploit is readily available, cybercriminals can use it in conjunction with malware to spread infections more effectively and quickly. Worms were once popular, although their use has died out. The use of worm-like elements with the WannaCry and NotPetya attacks has shown just how effective they can be, and also served as a reminder of why they were popular in the first place.
Far from isolated malware variants, we could be about to see a rise in the use of worm-like modules. Fortunately, for the time being at least, the worm module in Trickbot malware does not appear to be fully operational. That said, the malware is constantly being redeveloped so it is probable the flaws will be fixed soon.
The malware can gain access to online banking accounts enabling the attackers to empty bank accounts. It is fast becoming one of the most prevalent banking Trojans, according to IBM X-Force. It is currently being used in targeted attacks on organizations in the financial sector around the world, with recent campaigns targeting banks in the UK and United States. The ability to spread throughout a network rapidly will make it much more dangerous.
Aside from the new worm-like module another change has been detected. PhishMe reports that it has identified a change to how the Trojan is distributed. Attacks have occurred via malvertising campaigns this year that redirect web users to sites hosting the Rig exploit kit, although Trickbot is primarily distributed via spam email sent via the Necurs botnet.
The latest change to the Trickbot malware campaign is helping the threat actors to evade anti-virus solutions. Previously, the Trojan has been installed via macro scripts in specially crafted office documents. The latest campaign update sees the attackers use a Windows Script Component (WSC) containing XML-format scripts. The same delivery mechanism has also been used to deliver GlobeImposter ransomware.
by titanadmin | Aug 7, 2017 | Industry News, Internet Security, Network Security, Phishing & Email Spam, Spam News, Spam Software, Website Filtering |
Ransomware attacks on small businesses can be devastating. Many small businesses have little spare capital and certainly not enough to be handing out cash to cybercriminals, let alone enough to cover the cost of loss of business while systems are taken out of action. Many small businesses are one ransomware attack away from total disaster. One attack and they may have to permanently shut their doors.
A recent research study commissioned by Malwarebytes – conducted by Osterman Research – has highlighted the devastating effect of ransomware attacks on small businesses.
1,054 businesses with fewer than 1,000 employees were surveyed and asked about the number of ransomware attacks they had experienced, the cost of mitigating those attacks and the impact of the ransomware attacks on their business.
Anyone following the news should be aware of the increase in ransomware attacks. Barely a week goes by without a major attack being announced. The latest study has confirmed the frequency of attacks has increased. More than one third of companies that took part in the survey revealed they had experienced at least one ransomware attack in the past 12 months.
22% of Small Businesses Shut Down Operations Immediately Following a Ransomware Attack
The survey also showed the devastating impact of ransomware attacks on small businesses. More than one fifth of small businesses were forced to cease operations immediately after an attack. 22% of businesses were forced to close their businesses.
Those companies able to weather the storm incurred significant costs. 15% of companies lost revenue as a result of having their systems and data locked by ransomware and one in six companies experienced downtime in excess of 25 hours. Some businesses said their systems were taken out of action for more than 100 hours.
Paying a ransom is no guarantee that systems can be brought back online quickly. Each computer affected requires its own security key. Those keys must be used carefully. A mistake could see data locked forever. A ransomware attack involving multiple devices could take several days to resolve. Forensic investigations must also be conducted to ensure all traces of the ransomware have been removed and no backdoors have been installed. That can be a long-winded, painstaking process.
Multiple-device attacks are becoming more common. WannaCry-style ransomware attacks that incorporate a worm component see infections spread rapidly across a network. However, many ransomware variants can scan neworks and self-replicate. One third of companies that experienced attack, said it spread to other devices and 2% said all devices had been encrypted.
Can Ransomware Attacks on Small Businesses be Prevented?
Can ransomware attacks on small businesses be prevented? Confidence appears to be low. Almost half of respondents were only moderately confident they could prevent a ransomware attack on their business. Even though a third of businesses had ‘anti-ransomware’ defenses in place, one third still experienced attacks.
Unfortunately, there is no single solution that can prevent ransomware attacks on small businesses. What organizations must do is employ multi-layered defenses, although that can be a major challenge, especially with limited resources.
A risk assessment is a good place to start. Organizations need to look at their defenses critically and assess their infrastructure for potential vulnerabilities that could be exploited.
Improving Defenses Against Ransomware
Ransomware attacks on small businesses usually occur via email with employees targeted using phishing emails. Organizations should consider implementing a spam filtering solution to reduce the number of malicious emails that reach inboxes.
Some emails will inevitably slip past these defenses, so it is important for staff to be security aware. Security awareness training should be ongoing and should involve phishing simulations to find out how effective training has been and to single out employees that need further training.
While ransomware can arrive as an attachment, it is usually downloaded via scripts of when users visit malicious websites. By blocking links and preventing end users from visiting malicious sites, ransomware downloads can be blocked. A web filtering solution can be used to block malicious links and sites.
Anti-virus solutions should be kept up to date, although traditional signature-based detection technology is not as effective as it once was. Alone, anti-virus software will not offer sufficient levels of protection.
As was clearly shown by the WannaCry and NotPetya attacks, malware can be installed without any user interaction if systems are not configured correctly and patches and software updates are not applied promptly. Sign up to alerts and regularly check for updated software and don’t delay patching computers.
A ransomware attack need not be devastating. If organizations back up their data to the cloud, on a portable (unplugged) local storage device and have a copy of data off site, in the event of an attack, data will not be lost.
