Over the last two years, CrowdStrike Services has run several incident response (IR) engagements — in both pre- and post-ransomware situations — in which different ALPHA SPIDER affiliates demonstrated novel offensive techniques coupled with more commonly observed techniques. The events described in this blog have been attributed to ALPHA SPIDER affiliates by CrowdStrike Counter Adversary Operations.

At CrowdStrike, we are relentlessly researching and developing new technologies to outpace new and sophisticated threats, track adversaries’ behavior and stop breaches. As today’s adversaries continue to become faster and more advanced, the speed of enterprise detection and response is paramount. It is also a challenge for today’s organizations, which face mounting attack volumes amid a global shortage of cybersecurity practitioners.

I recently had the opportunity to speak with three CrowdStrike customers who shared their stories on why they consolidated on the CrowdStrike Falcon® XDR platform and the benefits of CrowdStrike’s tech integrations with partners like Okta and Zscaler. The 30-minute virtual panel, “Customer Best Practices for Security Consolidation Success,” is brimming with helpful information for security professionals. Why is this topic top-of-mind for so many?

Latin America (LATAM) is a growing market, and threat actors have used numerous eCrime malware variants to target users in this region. Over the past few years, many researchers have characterized the tactics, techniques and procedures (TTPs) of widespread Latin America malware families, including but not limited to Mispadu, Grandoreiro, Mekotio, Casbaneiro, Metamorfo and Astaroth.

The CrowdStrike Global Threat Report, now in its tenth iteration, examines how adversaries’ behavior poses an ever-expanding risk to the security of organizations’ data and infrastructure. Armed with this critical information, organizations are better equipped to face evolving threats. Stealth was the pervading theme of the 2023 threat landscape.

It is a common refrain in security circles that “nobody loves their vulnerability management tool.” CrowdStrike may have just proved to be the exception. We are proud to announce that CrowdStrike is the only vendor named a Customers’ Choice in the 2024 Gartner “Voice of the Customer” Report for Vulnerability Assessment. In this report, CrowdStrike is the only vendor placed in the upper right quadrant, meaning we received a Customers’ Choice Distinction.

According to a 2023 Forbes article, 12.7% of U.S. workers work remotely and 28.2% have adopted a hybrid work schedule. As device and usage trends continue to shift, organizations must find ways to secure remote endpoints that could grant adversaries access if left vulnerable.

As organizations shift their applications and operations to the cloud and increasingly drive revenues through software, cloud-native applications and APIs have emerged among the greatest areas of modern security risk.

As organizations move more of their business-critical applications to the cloud, adversaries are shifting their tactics accordingly. And within the cloud, it’s clear that cybercriminals are setting their sights on software applications: In fact, industry data shows 8 out of the top 10 breaches in 2023 were related to applications.

CrowdStrike researchers have identified a HijackLoader (aka IDAT Loader) sample that employs sophisticated evasion techniques to enhance the complexity of the threat. HijackLoader, an increasingly popular tool among adversaries for deploying additional payloads and tooling, continues to evolve as its developers experiment and enhance its capabilities.