SAN JOSE, Calif.–Cisco has released its 2015 Midyear Security Report offering updates on the latest cyberthreats.
“The Cisco 2015 Midyear Security Report examines these intersecting challenges while also providing updates on some of the most compelling threats,” the company said. “Using research by our experts, it provides an overview of the major threats observed in the first half of 2015. This report also explores likely future trends and offers advice for small, midsize, and enterprise organizations that seek security solutions and services.”
The report is divided into two areas: Threat Intelligence and Analysis and Observations.
Among the “major discoveries” Cisco said are featured in the report:
- Exploits of Adobe Flash vulnerabilities are increasing. They are regularly integrated into widely used exploit kits such as Angler and Nuclear.
- Angler continues to lead the exploit kit market in terms of overall sophistication and effectiveness.
- Operators of crimeware, such as ransomware, are hiring and funding professional development teams to help them make sure their tactics remain profitable.
- Criminals are turning to the anonymous web network Tor and the Invisible Internet Project (I2P) to relay command-and-control communications while evading detection.
- Adversaries are once again using Microsoft Office macros to deliver malware. It’s an old tactic that fell out of favor, but it’s being taken up again as malicious actors seek new ways to thwart security protections.
- Some exploit kit authors are incorporating text from Jane Austen’s classic novel Sense and Sensibility into web landing pages that host their exploit kits. Antivirus and other security solutions are more likely to categorize these pages as legitimate after “reading” such text.
- Malware authors are increasing their use of techniques such as sandbox detection to conceal their presence on networks.
- Spam volume is increasing in the United States, China, and the Russian Federation, but remained relatively stable in other regions in the first five months of 2015.
- The security industry is paying more attention to mitigating vulnerabilities in open-source solutions.
- Continuing a trend covered in the Cisco 2015 Annual Security Report, exploits involving Java have been on the decline in the first half of 2015.