Accenture Report Reveals New Cybercrime Operating Model Among High-Profile Threat Groups
August 14 2019 - 7:59AM
Business Wire
Accenture Security’s 2019 Cyber Threatscape
Report identifies top threats influencing the cyber landscape,
including emerging disinformation techniques and evolving
relationships in the underground economy
Cybercrime campaigns and high-profile advanced persistent threat
groups are shifting how they target victims and focusing more on
intricate relationships with “secure syndicate” partnerships to
disguise activity, according to the latest 2019 Cyber Threatscape
Report from Accenture (NYSE: ACN).
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Accenture releases 2019 Cyber Threatscape
Report, identifies top threats influencing the cyber landscape and
reveals emerging disinformation techniques (Graphic: Business
Wire)
Leveraging Accenture Security threat-intelligence capabilities
and research from primary and secondary open-source materials, the
annual report provides insights and predictions on the cyberthreat
landscape and how it will shift over the next year. The goal is to
help organizations stay ahead of threats relevant to their
organization, industry and geography.
“Over the past year, cybercriminals have continued to test the
resilience of organizations by layering attacks, updating
techniques and establishing new, intricate relationships to better
disguise their identities, making attribution more difficult to
pursue,” said Josh Ray, a managing director at Accenture Security.
“Organizations should understand the tangible elements, or the
bread crumb trail left behind, which can help reveal the
motivations, operational procedures and tool use, to create a
profile of the adversary. This process is critical for
organizations to understand so they can proactively be involved in
properly allocating resources and improving their security posture
to avoid becoming cybercrime’s next victim.”
A shift in high-profile cybercrime operating models
The report notes a significant increase in threat actors and
groups conducting targeted intrusions for financial gain, also
referred to as “big game hunting.” Despite the arrests of
individuals associated with online underground marketplaces,
activity among infamous threat actor groups – such as Cobalt Group,
FIN7 and Contract Crew – has continued. Accenture Security analysts
have also observed the shared use of tools that automate the
process of mass-producing malicious documents to spread malware,
such as More_Eggs, which is used in both conventional crimeware
campaigns and targeted attacks.
The continued activity is associated with relationships forming
among “secure syndicates” that closely collaborate and use the same
tools – suggesting a major a change in how threat actors work
together in the underground economy. With syndicates working
together, the lines are even more blurred between threat actor
groups, making attribution more difficult.
In addition, Accenture Security analysts have observed a shift
in the way Cobalt Group targets victims to gain access to the
victims’ supply chain networks. While malware has typically been
sent to internet users via phishing emails, analysts now see an
emergence of malware executed through web browsers focused on
targeting online merchants and retailers specifically.
The global disinformation battlefield
The report also finds evidence of a continued global
disinformation battlefield influencing social media users and
cautions that threat actors are becoming more skilled at exploiting
legitimate tools. While disinformation campaigns to influence both
domestic or foreign political sentiment and sway national elections
will continue, the wider potential impact of disinformation on
global financial markets is even more concerning, the report notes.
The financial services industry – and, more specifically,
high-frequency trading algorithms, which rely upon fast,
text-driven sources of information – are likely to be targeted by
large-scale disinformation efforts in the future.
Rise in ransomware: network access for sale
In addition, ransomware is increasingly plaguing businesses and
government infrastructures, with the number of ransomware attacks
more than tripling in just the past two years. Aside from delivery
via spam campaigns, analysts have witnessed threat groups Nikolay
and GandCrab planting ransomware directly on networks through
network access intrusions. Actors are offering to sell remote
desktop protocol (RDP) access to corporate networks, which they’ve
likely gained through compromised servers and RDP brute forcing, to
those in underground communities.
To read more about the top threat factors influencing the cyber
landscape today and predictions from Accenture Security, please
read the full 2019 Cyber Threatscape Report available here .
About Accenture
Accenture is a leading global professional services company,
providing a broad range of services and solutions in strategy,
consulting, digital, technology and operations. Combining unmatched
experience and specialized skills across more than 40 industries
and all business functions – underpinned by the world’s largest
delivery network – Accenture works at the intersection of business
and technology to help clients improve their performance and create
sustainable value for their stakeholders. With 482,000 people
serving clients in more than 120 countries, Accenture drives
innovation to improve the way the world works and lives. Visit us
at www.accenture.com.
Accenture Security helps organizations build resilience
from the inside out, so they can confidently drive innovation and
growth. Leveraging its global network of cybersecurity labs, deep
industry understanding across client value chains and services that
span the security lifecycle, Accenture protects organizations’
valuable assets, end-to-end. With services that include strategy
and risk management, cyber defense, digital identity, application
security and managed security, Accenture enables businesses around
the world to defend against known sophisticated threats, and the
unknown. Follow us @AccentureSecure on Twitter or visit us at
www.accenture.com/security.
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190814005071/en/
Alison Geib Accenture +1 703-947-4404 alison.geib@accenture.com
Denise Berard Accenture +1 617-488-3611
denise.berard@accenture.com
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