Written by Skybox Security
With the first manifestation of computer malware emerging as the Creeper virus in 1971, hackers are increasing in sophistication but also leveraging tried and true tactics, like malware, to gain access to classified intel and create havoc 50 years later.
Malware still being used en masse 50 years later:
Skybox Research Lab highlighted how malware is still very much in fashion today, as ransomware samples and trojans increased by 106% and 128% year-over-year. Increasingly sophisticated strategies are being leveraged with multi-staged attacks. Hackers are getting in the business of becoming entrepreneurs, with malware-as-a-service on the rise.
What does the security industry have to show a half-century later?: 50 years later and $123 million spent on security in 2020 alone, the industry is still caught off-guard by hackers infiltrating supposedly some of the most secure networks (example: SolarWinds breach). Additionally, security teams often chase the wrong leads, with hackers gaining access through using low- and medium-level threats as the backdoor into networks. With the rise of a bloated cybersecurity industry, the only thing we’ve learned is that what we are doing today is simply not enough.
Cybercriminals feeding off digital transformation and the new remote-first workforce:
The rapid development of a distributed workforce opened up a large number of new ingress and egress points to corporate environments. Organizations were also forced to rely on third-party vendors to support remote workforces, boost productivity and maintain operations. In turn, this created more access points that threat actors could exploit – allowing hackers to flourish. In fact, Skybox found a record 18,000+ new vulnerabilities were identified in 2020.
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