Exploits, Botnets and Malware Spike in Q1 2023
Nuspire’s Q1 2023 Cyber Threat Report Shows Emergence of New Phishing Tactics
COMMERCE, MI (May 17, 2023) Nuspire, a leading managed security services provider (MSSP), today announced the release of its Q1 2023 Cyber Threat Report. The quarterly report provides a comprehensive analysis of the threat landscape, examining threat data as well as specific tactics, techniques and procedures (TTPs) organizations should watch out for.
Nuspire’s latest report reveals that the breakneck pace at which threats increased in 2022 has continued into 2023. In fact, data show significantly elevated activity levels across all three types of threats Nuspire monitors: malware, botnets and exploits. The report analysis also indicates a spate of new phishing methods as threat actors seek to find novel ways to reach their targets.
“Not only did we see jumps in threat activity during Q1 2023, but also, we identified a clear evolution in how cyber adversaries are deploying phishing campaigns,” said J.R. Cunningham, Chief Security Officer at Nuspire. “One example is Microsoft. When the company blocked macros in Word and Excel files, phishing activity shifted to OneNote as a delivery system for embedding malicious scripts. Qakbot malware, along with malware families such as AsyncRAT, XWorm, QuasarRAT and Formbook, are all popular users of this new tactic.”
Notable findings from Nuspire’s quarterly report include:
- Exploit activity grew by more than 150% in Q1 2023, with brute forcing far and away as the most popular tactic, followed by Apache Log4j.
- Malware jumped nearly 40% in Q1, with JavaScript and Microsoft variants clocking in the most activity.
- Botnets jumped almost 60% in Q1, and two new offenders emerged as top contenders: NetSupport RAT and FatalRAT.
“The continued upward trajectory of cyber threat volume combined with the velocity of change in tactics, techniques and procedures has created perhaps the most challenging threat landscape we’ve ever experienced,” said Craig Robinson, Research VP for Security Services at IDC. “The current level of threat complexity and volatility punctuates the need to not only have the right technologies in place to monitor, detect and respond, but also have targeted threat intelligence to zero in on the threats that matter most to the health of your organization.”
Access Nuspire’s Q1 2023 Cyber Threat Report to view the data and learn key mitigation strategies for protecting your organization’s environment.
About Nuspire
Nuspire is a managed security services provider (MSSP), offering managed security services (MSS), managed detection and response (MDR), endpoint detection and response (EDR) that supports best-in-breed EDR solutions, and cybersecurity consulting services (CSC) that includes incident readiness and response, threat modeling, digital forensics, technology optimization, posture assessments and more. Our self-service, technology-agnostic platform, myNuspire, allows greater visibility into your entire security program. Powered by the self-healing, always on Nuspire Cyber X Platform (CXP), myNuspire will help CISOs alleviate the pain associated with tech sprawl, provide intelligence-driven recommendations, solve for alert fatigue and help their clients become more secure over time. Our deep bench of cybersecurity experts, award-winning threat intelligence and two 24×7 security operations centers (SOCs) detect, respond and remediate advanced cyber threats. Our client base spans thousands of enterprises, from midsized to large enterprises across multiple industries and geographic footprints. For more information, visit www.nuspire.com and follow us on LinkedIn @Nuspire.
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