Cyber attackers are not showing any signs of slowing down.
During quarter three, the CERT NZ report highlights that 870 incidents were reported. During this quarter alone organisations and individuals reported financial losses of close to NZ$3 million.
Sophos recently released the 2019 SophosLabs Threat Report. This report discusses some of the trends and characteristics of some of the common threats out there. Some of their predictions for 2019 include:
- Capitalist cyber criminals are taking manual control of attacks. Hand-crafted, targeted attacks have raked in millions of dollars and are gaining in popularity.
- Attackers are using admin tools in their attacks. Currently more common / everyday cyber criminals are using this method of attack.
- Mobile and IoT malware distribution is not slowing down. IoT infecting worms are expected to continue as mobile and IoT devices remain vulnerable to attack.
- Cyber criminals use EternalBlue for cryptojacking attacks. Despite Microsoft releasing an update for Windows more than a year ago, the EnternalBlue exploit is still in current use by cyber criminals.
Here are some suggestions to help you keep your organisation safe:
- Lock down RDP.
- Have a strict patching protocol for your operating system and apps.
- Use multi-factor authentication and only assign user rights as needed.
- Have a disaster recovery plan.
Click here to download a copy of the SophosLabs 2019 Threat Report.
