Tag: threat actor
‘Hellcat’ is new breed of cybercriminal
A ransomware gang, Hellcat, that emerged in 2024 is being seen as representative of a new type of threat actor using off-the-shelf malware and innovative extortion techniques. According to cybersecurity company Cato Networks: “Hellcat’s emergence in 2024 marks a troubling shift in the landscape of cybercrime. By leveraging a ransomware-as-a-service (RaaS) model and utilizing double extortion tactics, Hellcat has not only increased the accessibility of ransomware but also heightened the psychological impact on its victims.”
Cybercriminals crack MFA defenses
Cybercriminals are now using social engineering techniques developed to crack passwords to break through multi-factor authentication (MFA) defenses, such as sending a code to another device, such as the user’s smartphone. According to the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) report, Not all types of MFA are created equal...: “Attackers have realized that many of the same social engineering techniques that tricked us into handing over passwords can also be updated to overcome some methods of MFA. We’ve seen the success of attacks against MFA-protected accounts increasing over the past couple of years.”
Cyber-gangs to launch media offensive in 2024
Cybercrime, which has become a multi-trillion-dollar industry over recent decades, became increasingly sophisticated during 2023, with criminal groups now adopting many of the business practices used by legitimate enterprises. According to a new report from cybersecurity firm, Sophos, leading ransomware gangs now increasingly employ their own internal HR and PR departments. Far from shying away from the media, as criminals always have in the past, some ransomware gangs have been swift to seize the opportunities it affords them. Some regularly issue press releases and take great pains to forge relationships with individual journalists using the same PR methods as those employed by legitimate corporations. Threat actors also offer Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) and answers for journalists visiting their leak sites, encouraging reporters to get in touch, give in-depth interviews, and recruit writers, reports Sophos.
“Jailbreaking” – cybercrime’s latest buzzword
When cybercriminals speak about “jailbreaking,” they are not discussing springing someone from prison. It refers instead to circumventing safety restrictions on AI-driven chatbots to effectively weaponize AI for criminal purposes.