The way hackers attack their victims is constantly changing. It is true that we have a large number of security tools at our disposal, as well as methods to protect ourselves. However, cybercriminals also improve their strategy, with more effective attacks . They adapt to changes to achieve their goals. We talk about it in this article. We are going to show how the picture is today.
Hackers use more effective attacks
Malware, ransomware, spyware … Many varieties can be found on the Internet and that, in one way or another, put our security and privacy at risk. We have antivirus and other tools with which to protect ourselves. But at the same time cybercriminals create our strategies and methods to bypass that security.
Now, as the latest Accenture report indicates, hackers are conducting more efficient, refined attacks to target victims. They use a large arsenal of new open source tools, actively exploit corporate email systems, and very frequently use extortion to achieve their goals. An example of all this is ransomware.
Something that security researchers have found very frequently is that attackers use a combination of tools, rely on shared hosting infrastructures, and exploit publicly available code.
The pandemic has also changed the habits of attackers
They also highlight that everything related to the Covid-19 pandemic has also changed the habits of hackers. They now rely even more on compromised systems, computers that are not properly patched, to achieve their attacks. Keep in mind that teleworking is something that has grown a lot these months and that many users do not have the necessary tools in terms of defense, nor do they have the latest versions available.
They use these compromised systems to carry out more effective, profit-oriented attacks. They can hide traffic, pass commands, compromise email, steal data and credentials, etc. They also act to a greater extent to spy on victims. We already know that personal data has great value online.
But if there is something that has been very present in recent months, it is ransomware . Accenture indicates that in the last year it has become a more lucrative business model. But now they also use this type of malware to extort money by making data public on the network. Something that is especially business-oriented. They ask, as usual in these cases, a financial rescue in exchange for not making this data public and that anyone, the competition included, could see them on the network.
Ultimately, hackers are carrying out more effective strategies and attacks to achieve their goals. To bypass the safety barriers they must constantly refine. You can see the full study on the Accenture website.
From this article we recommend keeping our equipment properly updated, using security tools and of course keeping common sense in mind. In this way we can prevent the entry of malware. We leave you an article with tips to protect data on the network.
