Trend Micro Predicts More Sophisticated Attacks Will Dominate 2019

HONG KONG, CHINA - Media OutReach - 14 December 2018 - Trend Micro Incorporated (TYO: 4704; TSE: 4704), a global
leader in cybersecurity solutions, today released its 2019 predictions report,
warning that attackers will increase the effectiveness of proven attack methods
by adding more sophisticated elements to take advantage of the changing
technology landscape. The report, Mapping
the Future: Dealing with Pervasive and Persistent Threats, highlights the growing threats faced by consumers
and organizations that are exacerbated by the increasingly connected world.

 

“As we
head into 2019, organizations must understand the security implications of
greater cloud adoption, converging IT and OT, and increasing remote working,”
said Tony Lee, Head of Consulting of Trend Micro Hong Kong and Macau.
“Cybercriminals will continue to follow a winning formula — exploiting existing
flaws, social engineering and stolen credentials — to drive profits. As both
the corporate attack surface and unknown cyber threats increase, it’s more
important than ever for organizations to put more resources behind employee
education to help protect against these growing attacks.”

 

The role
of social engineering in successful attacks against businesses and individuals
will continue to increase throughout the year. Since 2015, the number of
phishing URLs blocked by Trend Micro has increased by nearly 3,800 percent.
This offsets the lessening reliance on exploit kits, which has decreased by 98
percent in the same time. Additionally, attackers will continue to rely on
known vulnerabilities that remain unpatched in corporate networks for 99.99
percent of exploits, as this remains a successful tactic.

 

Trend
Micro also predicts attackers will leverage these proven methods against
growing cloud adoption. More vulnerabilities will be found in cloud
infrastructure, such as containers, and weak cloud security measures will allow
greater exploitation of accounts for cryptocurrency mining. This will lead to
more damaging breaches due to misconfigured systems.

 

Attackers
will also implement emerging technologies like AI to better anticipate the
movements of executives. This will lead to more convincing targeted phishing
messages, which can be critical to BEC attacks. Additionally, it is likely that
BEC attacks will target more employees who report to C-level executives,
resulting in continued global losses.

 

SIM
swapping and SIM-jacking will be a growing threat to take advantage of remote
employees and everyday users. This attack method allows criminals to hijack a
cell phone without the user’s knowledge, making it difficult for consumers to
regain control of their devices. Additionally, the smart home will be an
increasingly attractive target for attacks that leverage home routers and
connected devices.

 

To find out more on these and many more 2019
predictions, read the full report here.

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 workloads, networks, and endpoints. All our
products work together to seamlessly share threat intelligence and provide a
connected threat defense with centralized visibility and investigation,
enabling better, faster protection. With more than 6,000 employees in 50
countries and the world’s most advanced global threat research and
intelligence, Trend Micro enables organizations to secure their connected
world. For more information, visit www.trendmicro.com.hk.

 

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