European businesses and governments must take urgent action against emerging...
European businesses and governments must take urgent action against emerging cyberattack trends, the European Network and Information Security Agency said Wednesday. The cyberwatchdog’s “flash note” (http://bit.ly/XsWxMD) cited a spate of recent reports about targeted cyberassaults directed at governments and critical…
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infrastructure operators, saying they “follow a common and well-known pattern.” Attackers send an apparently legitimate email that’s actually a phishing attempt. The email contains a link to an Internet page containing malware or a maliciously prepared attachment. The malware can exploit software vulnerabilities such as a flaw in the Adobe Acrobat Reader, allowing the attacker to gain sufficient control over the target to gather intelligence. That information is often used to go after other victims or machines in the same organization. The technique has also been used in attacks aimed at financial fraud, such as cyberattacks on online banking called “High-roller,” ENISA said. The recent events highlight several issues, it said. Cyberspace has no borders, making it difficult to find out who’s behind the attacks. The incidents use a combination of two methods -- an innocent-looking spear-phishing email and a software vulnerability. Many organizations have phishing filters and antivirus products, but they often don’t seem to be working when cyberassaults take place over a long time period. Moreover, ENISA said, there are many ways for cybercriminals to stay below the radar. The recently discovered incidents had gone unnoticed for years, probably because attackers were targeting few victims, ensuring that antivirus companies couldn’t easily spot them, it said. It’s possible those attacks are “only the tip of the iceberg,” it said. ENISA recommended: (1) Proactive prevention should be the primary defense against cyberincidents, because prosecution after the event may not always be possible. (2) Email is insecure. In the short run, organizations in critical sectors should mitigate the risks by using encryption solutions and/or send authentication to avoid becoming an easy target for spear-phishing. (3) There are trade-offs between software features and software security. The more features and interoperability attributes software has, the harder it is to ensure it’s free of vulnerabilities. Organizations should reduce the attack surface by using less complex software on user devices and reducing user permission to access other devices, services and applications.