A view of the Q4 2020 threat landscape as seen by ESET telemetry and from the perspective of ESET threat detection and research experts
2020 was many things (“typical” not being one of them), and it sure feels good to be writing about it in the past tense.
As if really trying to prove a point, the pandemic picked up new steam in the last quarter, bringing the largest waves of infections and further lockdowns around the world. Amid the chaos, the long-anticipated vaccine rollouts brought a collective sigh of relief – or, at least, a glimmer of hope somewhere in the not-too-far-distant future.
In cyberspace, events also took a dramatic turn towards the end of the year, as news of the SolarWinds supply-chain attack swept across the industry. With many high-profile victims, the incident is a stark reminder of the potential scope and impact of these types of attacks, which are also exceedingly difficult to detect and prevent.
While not all as earthshaking as the SolarWinds hack, supply-chain attacks are becoming a major trend: in Q4 alone, ESET uncovered as many as the whole sector saw annually just a few years back. And – seeing how much cybercriminals have to gain from them – their numbers are only expected to continue growing in the future.
Luckily, however, threat actors are not the only ones on the offensive. In October 2020, ESET took part in a global disruption campaign targeting TrickBot, one of the largest and longest-lived botnets. Thanks to the combined efforts of all who participated in this operation, TrickBot took a heavy blow with 94% of its servers taken down in a single week.
With work from home being the new normal in many sectors – one of the largest shifts brought by the pandemic ..
Support the originator by clicking the read the rest link below.
