November 21, 2013 By Amit Klein 2 min read

The common thread running through the malware trends we’ve seen in recent months is the evolution, maturation and diversification of the attacks and fraud schemes they facilitate. Malware, once purpose-built, is clearly becoming a flexible platform — in many respects, it is now almost a commodity.

Take, for example, the leak of Carberp’s source code in 2013. Carberp joined Zeus as the latest prominent Man-in-the-Browser malware to become “open.” With access to this source code, cyber criminals can quickly implement a wide variety of attacks and fraud schemes aimed at specific targets.

Along with the more traditional and pure in-browser attacks, SMS-stealing attacks are becoming common, researcher evasion is quickly emerging as a malware trend and new approaches to account takeover and remote device control are being encountered more and more frequently.

INFOGRAPHIC: Top Most Dangerous Malware Trends for 2014 from IBM Security Systems

 


 

Not surprisingly, malware is still the most dangerous threat to enterprises, end users and financial institutions. Its success has spawned improved detection and prevention technologies that continue to threaten malware’s existence. This has forced cyber criminals to evolve their own technologies in order to stay ahead of security vendors. They have responded through diversification, by inventing new fraud mechanics to evade existing security solutions, and commoditization, by turning cutting-edge, limited-circulation techniques into mainstream capabilities.

These are indicators that the cyber crime industry is prospering and is able to withstand pressure from advances in security technologies. What’s needed is a disruptive approach to security that addresses the root cause of infections and cyber crime. This approach will need to respond to new cyber crime techniques and malware trends in real time while also providing holistic protection.

Read the white paper: Accelerating growth and digital adoption with seamless identity trust

More from Malware

Ongoing ITG05 operations leverage evolving malware arsenal in global campaigns

13 min read - As of March 2024, X-Force is tracking multiple ongoing ITG05 phishing campaigns featuring lure documents crafted to imitate authentic documents of government and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in Europe, the South Caucasus, Central Asia, and North and South America. The uncovered lures include a mixture of internal and publicly available documents, as well as possible actor-generated documents associated with finance, critical infrastructure, executive engagements, cyber security, maritime security, healthcare, business, and defense industrial production. Beginning in November 2023, X-Force observed ITG05…

X-Force Threat Intelligence Index 2024 reveals stolen credentials as top risk, with AI attacks on the horizon

4 min read - Every year, IBM X-Force analysts assess the data collected across all our security disciplines to create the IBM X-Force Threat Intelligence Index, our annual report that plots changes in the cyber threat landscape to reveal trends and help clients proactively put security measures in place. Among the many noteworthy findings in the 2024 edition of the X-Force report, three major trends stand out that we’re advising security professionals and CISOs to observe: A sharp increase in abuse of valid accounts…

Hive0051’s large scale malicious operations enabled by synchronized multi-channel DNS fluxing

12 min read - For the last year and a half, IBM X-Force has actively monitored the evolution of Hive0051’s malware capabilities. This Russian threat actor has accelerated its development efforts to support expanding operations since the onset of the Ukraine conflict. Recent analysis identified three key changes to capabilities: an improved multi-channel approach to DNS fluxing, obfuscated multi-stage scripts, and the use of fileless PowerShell variants of the Gamma malware. As of October 2023, IBM X-Force has also observed a significant increase in…

Topic updates

Get email updates and stay ahead of the latest threats to the security landscape, thought leadership and research.
Subscribe today