Trend Micro Finds Shifting Threats Require Businesses to Rethink Security Priorities

2018 roundup report reveals substantial growth in phishing, cryptocurrency mining and BEC

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HONG
KONG, CHINA – Media OutReach – February
28, 2019 – Trend
Micro Incorporated
(TYO: 4704; TSE: 4704), a global leader in cybersecurity solutions, today
released its 2018 Security Roundup Report, which depicts a threat landscape
that has evolved heavily through both approach and tactics. One shift in
attacks that businesses should be aware of is the rapid growth of
cryptocurrency mining, which increased 237 percent in the same time. Overall,
attacks that capitalize on the human desire to respond to urgent requests from
authority are on the rise, such as Business Email Compromise (BEC) and
phishing, with phishing URL detections having increased an incredible 269
percent compared to 2017.

 

“The changes across the threat
landscape in 2018 reflect a change in cybercriminal’s mindset,” said Tony Lee, Head
of Consulting of Trend
Micro Hong Kong and Macau. “Today’s most prevalent attacks are targeted and
well planned, as opposed to one-size-fits-all attacks of the past. Knowing this
pattern, we’re developing products that can outsmart these attack methods and
allow us to be one step ahead of the bad guys.”

 

The number of BEC attacks in 2018
increased by 28 percent. While these attacks are less frequent than phishing
attacks, they are more sophisticated and take more careful planning for
cybercriminals and they yield an average of $132,000 per attack. As these attacks
contain no malware and go undetected by
traditional security measures, companies need to increase their protection
against these attacks with smart solutions that analyze the email writing style
of key executives in order to identify whether the email may be fraudulent.
Trend Micro’s Writing
Style DNA does
exactly that and effectively helps detect Business Email Compromise (BEC)
attacks.

 

Another area of change across the
threat landscape in 2018 was seen in zero-day vulnerabilities. Trend Micro’s
Zero Day Initiative (ZDI) bought and disclosed more vulnerabilities in 2018
than ever before, including 224 percent more Industrial Control System bugs.
This is particularly significant for organizations that struggle to implement
patches across their systems. While zero-day exploits are less and less common,
known vulnerabilities were used to execute the largest attacks in 2018. These
tactics rely on vulnerabilities that have had patches available for months,
even years, yet remain exposed in corporate networks.

 

Another strong indicator of how the
threat landscape is shifting can be seen in the types of threats that decline.
Ransomware detections decreased by 91 percent compared to 2017, along with a 32
percent decrease in new ransomware families. This reinforces the shift in
attack tactics, as ransomware does not require extensive planning, technical
skills or ingenuity due to the large number of resources available for
malicious hackers in the cybercriminal underground.

 

Trend Micro’s ongoing research and
most advanced threat intelligence influences future product enhancements to
ensure customers remain a step ahead of malicious actors.

 

To find out
more on the key developments in the 2018 threat landscape, please visit: https://www.trendmicro.com/vinfo/us/security/research-and-analysis/threat-reports/roundup/unraveling-the-tangle-of-old-and-new-threats.

About Trend Micro

Trend Micro Incorporated, a global leader
in cybersecurity solutions, helps to make the world safe for exchanging digital
information. Our innovative solutions for consumers, businesses, and
governments provide layered security for data centers, cloud environments,
networks, and endpoints. All our products work together to seamlessly share
threat intelligence and provide a connected threat defense with centralized
visibility and control, enabling better, faster protection. With more than
6,000 employees in over 50 countries and the world’s most advanced global
threat intelligence, Trend Micro enables organizations to secure their journey
to the cloud. For
more information, visit www.trendmicro.com.hk.