Over the past year, the number of incidents aimed at disabling corporate protection has increased significantly in cyberspace. According to the annual report published by Picus Security, known as the Red Report, there has been a surge in “Hunter-Killer” malware, which is specialized malicious software responsible for disabling security systems of companies. The report notes a 333% increase in the use of such programs over the past 12 months.
The report also reveals that attackers are now able to detect and neutralize modern protection systems, including new generation firewalls, antivirus software, and EDR solutions. This indicates a shift towards more destructive and dangerous tools, posing a serious challenge for cybersecurity specialists.
Suleiman Ozarslan, co-founder and vice president of Picus, expressed surprise at the significant increase, as it was not previously considered one of the top 10 threats. In the report, based on the analysis of over 600,000 samples of malicious software detected in the wild, various types of attacks were identified, including code injection, botnet usage, phishing, and the spread of harmful software. These attacks can be used for stealing personal data, system destruction, extortion, and other malicious actions.
To combat these exploits, it is essential to detect vulnerabilities, develop and use patches, update antivirus databases, and provide cybersecurity training to users, reducing the risk of attacks.