Fortinet FortiGuard Labs Cites Increased Cyber Threat Activity in Brazil Deserving Special Attention in the face of the Rio Olympics
Fortinet has announced the findings of its FortiGuard Labs cyber threat landscape global report. The report cites increased threat activity in Brazil and explains why it deserves special attention ahead of the Rio Olympics. It identifies the top phishing countries, as well as top malware, botnets, and exploit kits found around the globe. It also Ilustrates the trending of a sophisticated method to help attackers persist inside systems they have breached called “behavior blending.” The threat data used in the analysis is based on a subset of telemetry data for the months of April, May and June 2016. The risk and threat implications contained in the report are illustrated using FortiGuard’s industry-leading threat data, research and analysis.
The volume of malicious and phishing artifacts (i.e. domain names and URLs) in Brazil is on the rise. In June, Brazil’s percentage increase was higher in three of four categories in Fortinet’s report when compared with the global percentage increase. The highest percentage growth was in the malicious URL category at 83% compared to 16% for the rest of the world.
As the 2016 Rio Olympics approaches, the history of these increased attacks will undoubtedly continue and FortiGuard Labs is already seeing indicators of repeat techniques such as domain lookalikes for payment fraud and malicious websites or URLs targeting event and government officials. Cyberattacks during the Olympic games are not new. Fortinet FortiGuard Labs research has found a spike of attacks focused on the Olympics beginning as far back as the 2004 Summer Olympics in Greece.
Fortinet FortiGuard Labs research is seeing a return of old threats and attack vectors, and the continued persistence of classic attacks, such as Conficker and ransomware, through updated variants. Fortinet’s telemetry data and research indicates that the two most common delivery methods are phishing emails and malicious websites.
Advanced Threat Technique – “Behavior Blending”: Over the past three months a sophisticated method to help attackers persist inside systems they have breached is on the rise. Behavior blending is a technique used by criminals that allows them to blend in on a compromised network. For example, on a corporate network, the attacker may take on the behavior of an employee to avoid detection. Given this evasion technique has a lot of potential for thwarting detection, Fortinet expects to see more of it as it is refined and new tools are developed to better mimic the behavior of a credentialed target, the release said.
Rajesh Maurya, Regional Director, India & SAARC, Fortinet said, “The expanding attack surface enabled by technology innovation, new IoT devices, regulatory pressures, and a global shortage of cybersecurity talent continue to drive cyber threats. All of these elements combined with global political events add more complexity to the situation and complexity is the enemy of security. Simply deploying security point solutions end-to-end is not enough. Organizations need to adopt a Security Fabric that will enable direct communication between solutions for a unified and rapid response to advanced threats.”
