Question

1. write a one-page paper that supports the claim that, in the future, computer criminals will become more sophisticated and that protecting personal information will become more difficult.

Answer 1

ANS :

We’ve entered an era of incredible technological innovation. An unfortunate consequence, however, has been the increased sophistication of hackers, scammers and other online criminals. This complex threat landscape has sparked a number of important security questions.

Research by Fortinet identified that threat actors have moved away from random ransomware attacks to more targeted and more lucrative campaigns.

It was noted that although ransomware attacks are steadily declining, they remain a potential threat to enterprise security. It was noted that tailored (created) and targeted ransomware attacks require more tailored and targeted security defences.

The report discusses a ransomware variant dubbed LockerGoga. There had been evidence to support reports that LockerGoga was targeted.

The report said:

“Our analysis of the malware shows there’s little about LockerGoga that sets it apart from other ransomware in terms of functional sophistication.”

“While most ransomware tools use some level of obfuscation to avoid detection, there was very little of that in the LockerGoga sample we analysed. This suggests that the attacker had already analysed the victim’s network defences and determine the malware would not be detected.”

The report also identified that threat actors increasingly leverage legitimate tools already installed on target systems to carry out cyberattacks. The tools make it harder for investigators to identify.

Additionally the report found that there had been an increase in the number of domains shared between threats at each stage of the kill chain.

“Nearly 60% of threats shared at least one domain in the web filter data, indicating the majority of botnets leverage established infrastructure.

“Most intriguing is that when threats share infrastructure they tend to do so within the same stage in the Kill Chain. In other words, it would be unusual for a threat to leverage a domain for exploitation and then later leverage it for C2 traffic.

“This suggests infrastructure typically plays a particular role or function when suborned for malicious campaigns.”

Phil Quade, chief information security officer for Fortinet, said in a press release:

“We unfortunately continue to see the cyber-criminal community mirror the strategies and methodologies of nation-state actors, and the evolving devices and networks they are targeting.

“Organisations need to rethink their strategy to better future-proof and manage cyber risks.”

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The world is changing, and with it so is the internet. Or perhaps it’s the other way around. The internet continues to create new business and social opportunities that massively scale and widely interconnect. The increasing depth and volume of personal and corporate data make it a more rewarding target for cyber crooks and state-sponsored espionage or sabotage. At the same time, greater connectivity provides more potential attack vectors.

This makes industry, governments and individuals uneasy and unsure how to prepare. Predicting the exact nature of future threats and how to combat them is difficult.