Security | Threat Detection | Cyberattacks | DevSecOps | Compliance

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.

A huge reward is being offered for information leading to the identification or location of any of the leaders of the LockBit ransomware gang. The bounty offer comes from the US State Department, following this week's disruption of the criminal organisation's activities. LockBit, which has been operating since 2020, has targeted thousands of victims around the globe, causing the loss of billions of dollars in both ransom payments and recovery.

In a synchronized effort across multiple nations, law enforcement agencies have conducted a series of raids and arrests targeting those responsible for the LockBit ransomware attacks. Termed Operation Cronos, this initiative marks a notable victory in the ongoing battle against cybercrime. The LockBit ransomware group has been behind several high-profile cyber assaults, causing substantial financial harm and disruption to businesses and organizations globally.

Researchers at VIPRE Security observed a 276% increase in malware delivered by phishing between Q1 and Q4 of 2023. “Last year, our YARA rules caught between one and two million generic malware instances each quarter, with a nearly 20% jump in Q4,” VIPRE’s report says.

The news that US, UK, and other international law enforcement agencies disrupted LockBit is welcome, as stopping any threat group activity is always a positive. The unfortunate aspect is this blow won’t impact ransomware overall. As in the past, another group will pick up the slack, or LockBit itself will reform and get back into business.

As cybercrime evolves, one avenue for attack has risen to prominence across the world: Ransomware. According to Arctic Wolf’s State of Cybersecurity 2023 Trends Report, 48% of organizations view ransomware as the top attack vector concern. A concern comes with just cause, as the Arctic Wolf Labs 2024 Threats Report showed 48.6% of incidents investigated by Arctic Wolf were ransomware attacks.

The Sysdig Threat Research Team (TRT) discovered the malicious use of a new network mapping tool called SSH-Snake that was released on 4 January 2024. SSH-Snake is a self-modifying worm that leverages SSH credentials discovered on a compromised system to start spreading itself throughout the network. The worm automatically searches through known credential locations and shell history files to determine its next move. SSH-Snake is actively being used by threat actors in offensive operations.

A widespread malvertising campaign is attempting to trick users into paying phony utility bills, according to researchers at Malwarebytes. “We discovered a prolific campaign of fraudulent ads shown to users via Google searches,” the researchers write. “To give an idea of scale, the number of ads we found exceeds what we have found in previous malvertising cases....The scam begins when a user searches for keywords related to their energy bill.

New data on how organizations are able to respond to ransomware attacks also shows that paying a ransom is highly likely, despite having a policy of “Do Not Pay.” New research from security vendor Cohesity says organizations are overconfident in their ability to recover from a ransomware attack. According to the data: And even if you do have an outstanding recovery plan, when’s the last time you tested it?