In a report on 2019 ANNUAL SECURITY ROUNDUP, the company said complex and persistent threats riddled the cybersecurity landscape of 2019.
“Ransomware attacks found a niche in high-profile targets, while phishing scams came up with novel subterfuges. Vulnerabilities in a widely used software protocol were thrown into sharp relief, while threats to third-party services and tools highlighted the importance of security at all nodes of a supply chain,” staes the report.
The report details the most important issues and changes in the threat landscape to provide businesses with insights into best practices and strategies for protecting their infrastructures from current and emerging threats.
Ransomware continued to be a mainstay cyber threat last year. Overall, Trend Micro discovered a 10% increase in ransomware detections, despite a 57% decrease in the number of new ransomware families. The healthcare sector remained the most targeted industry, with more than 700 providers affected in 2019. Additionally, at least 110 US state and municipal governments and agencies fell victim to ransomware.
Trend Micro Director Of Global Threat Communications Jon Clay said digital transformation has been a business buzzword for decades, and the concept has yielded very positive results over time. But security is often an afterthought, which leaves digital doors wide open for cybercriminals.
“Despite the prevalent ideals of digital transformation, lack of basic security hygiene, legacy systems with outdated operating systems and unpatched vulnerabilities are still a reality. This scenario is ideal for ransomware actors looking for a quick return on investment. As long as the ransom scheme continues to be profitable, criminals will continue to leverage it,” said Trend Micro Director Of Global Threat Communications Jon Clay.
Known vulnerabilities remain key to successful cyber attacks, including ransomware. In 2019, Trend Micro’s Zero Day Initiative (ZDI) disclosed 171% more high severity vulnerabilities than in 2018. The criticality score reflects the likelihood of these flaws being leveraged by attackers, so high severity bugs are more likely to be weaponized and the patches should be prioritized.
To protect against today’s threat landscape, Trend Micro recommends a connected threat defense across gateways, networks, servers and endpoints. Additionally, these best practices can increase a company’s security posture:
- Mitigate ransomware with network segmentation, regular back-ups and continuous network monitoring.
- Update and patch systems and software to protect against known vulnerabilities.
- Enable virtual patching, especially for operating systems that are no longer supported by the vendor.
- Implement multi-factor authentication and least privilege access policies to prevent abuse of tools that can be accessed via admin credentials, like remote desktop protocol, PowerShell and developer tools.
For more on the cyber threat landscape of 2019, access the full report here: https://www.trendmicro.com/vinfo/us/security/research-and-analysis/threat-reports/roundup/the-sprawling-reach-of-complex-threats.
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All products of the company work together to seamlessly share threat intelligence and provide a connected threat defense with centralized visibility and control, enabling better, faster protection. With more than 6,000 employees in over 50 countries and the world’s most advanced global threat intelligence, Trend Micro secures your connected world.
