For decades, protecting networks was entirely focused
on defining perimeters and setting up defense layers to
keep threats out. And for years, this approach served
businesses well, with finite exposure points and attack
vectors that were guarded with some investment and
adherence to established best practices and frameworks.
Tracking the evolution of malware strains
The collective power of Capture ATP and RTDMI
also helps SonicWall Capture Labs threat
researchers track the evolution of malware
variants — even when authors obfuscate their
payloads, such as using scripts inside of archives.
PDFs, Microsoft Office files among top new file types
In 2019, SonicWall observed that most new threats are
based on malicious PDFs or Office files, followed by Archives.
PDF files are popular because they are searchable, can be viewed on any device, are easy to create and may be encrypted for security, password-protected and/or digitally signed for authentication.
By forcing malware to reveal its weaponry in
memory, RTDMI proactively detects and blocks
mass-market, never-before-seen threats and
unknown malware, including attacks against
processor vulnerabilities and malicious PDFs and
Office files.
What are ‘never-before-seen’ malware variants?
SonicWall tracks the detection and mitigation of
‘never-before-seen’ malware.
In many cases, zero-day vulnerabilities are
patched, fixed or otherwise mitigated before
attacks can cause serious damage. Unfortunately,
the inverse is also true. In 2019, SonicWall
recorded and analyzed the top 10 CVEs that
were exploited “in the wild.
New Exploit Kits Emerging
With of various cyber-criminal gang
members, some exploit kits (EK) have emerged to
replace older variants. But even the new EKs still
utilize fairly old Internet Explorer and Adobe Flash
vulnerabilities. Like their predecessors, they also are
mainly distributed via “drive-by-download” and
malvertizing campaigns.
THERE IS AN EXPLOSION OF EXPOSURE POINTS.
Citing the rapid emergence of IoT across multiple industries, Gartner states 5.8 billion
endpoints will be in use in 2020. Predictions forecast up to over a trillion programmable endpoints over the next two decades.
WE’RE FACING A CYBERSECURITY BUSINESS GAP.
Risk escalates with the explosion of exposure points
and remote/mobile workers
Cost grows increasingly prohibitive and the shortage
of trained personnel becomes more acute
Constrained resources simply can’t keep up
SOLUTIONS:
Connect and secure a boundless workforce
across all environments to eliminate blind spots
Gain a unified view of risk, including prioritization
and control across your entire organization and
multiple generations of IT infrastructure
Increase visibility and control over dispersed
remote, mobile and work-at-home employee
systems and traffic
See how the experts at CisCom can help you with this and more!
Blog content for the Boundless Cyber-security series provided by our partners at SonicWall.
Security Costs continue to rise - And skilled staff is harder to find
While no surprise, the cost of cyber-security continues to rise. Gartner notes an 8.7% year-over-year increase in IT security spending last year. Most importantly many organizations plan on increasing the size of their departments, a growing number of those face challenges with inadequate security budget to fill those slots.
"Your organization may have no idea of what’s being missed."
Across all threat vectors, the array of threat types are also expanding, deepening and getting smarter. Never-before-seen variants are up 145% year-over-year. Organizations are seeing a 60% change in types of threats and 45% increase in the number and frequency of threats.