Vendor Trend has warned that the days of mass ransomware attacks are over and hackers are taking a more discrete approach.
The biggest change is a shift from large scale ransomware attacks to more covert attacks that are aimed at stealing both money and computing resources.
The computing power is in demand by those hijacking PCs to use the machines as part of digital currency mining efforts.
Bharat Mistry, principal security strategist for Trend Micro said that the recent change in the threat landscape shows that cybercriminals will constantly shift their tools, tactics and procedures (TTPs) to improve their infection rates.
“Standard spray and pray ransomware attacks and data breaches had become the norm, so attackers changed their tactics to be more covert, using entry vectors not previously seen or used extensively. This means once again, business leaders must evaluate their defenses to ensure sufficient protection is in place to stop the latest and most pressing threats”, added Mistry.
One of the proposed answers that gets pitched to customers is to increase automation to help with the heavy lifting but research from Skybox Security indicates that much more work needs to be done on that front.
The firm found that APAC is ahead of the US and EMEA in using automation for processes involved in firewall rules and security policy. AI and machine learning is also something that so far appears to be more a concept than a reality for many users.
