Subj : These were the nastiest malware strains of 2023 - so stay on your
To   : All
From : TechnologyDaily
Date : Wed Oct 25 2023 16:15:05

These were the nastiest malware strains of 2023 - so stay on your guard

Date:
Wed, 25 Oct 2023 15:04:16 +0000

Description:
Ransomware as a service is dominating the charts, made up of rebrands and 
successors.

FULL STORY
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This years Nastiest Malware report from OpenText Cybersecurity, which lists 
the biggest threats for the past year, is out, and the overarching theme this 
year is rebranding. 

After analyzing the threat landscape to determine the most notorious malware 
trends, the company's experts discovered the biggest threats these days are 
coming from ransomware players. More specifically - ransomware-as-a-service 
(RaaS) players. 

A key finding this year is the RaaS business model is another win for the bad 
guys. Profit sharing and risk mitigation are top contributors to RaaS success 
along with the ability to easily evade authorities, said Muhi Majzoub, EVP 
and Chief Product Officer, OpenText. There is a silver lining as research 
shows only 29% of businesses pay ransom, an all-time low. These numbers 
indicate people are taking threats seriously and investing in security to be 
in a position where they do not need to pay ransom. Cl0p, BlackCat, and 
others 

These days, the biggest players out there are a rebrand of former biggest 
players out there. The first name on the list is Cl0p, namely because of the 
havoc it wreaked with the MOVEit managed file transfer attack. 

Through MOVEit, Cl0p compromised data on thousands of firms, which propelled 
it to the very top of the list. The second name on the list is BlackCat, 
which OpenText believes is the successor of the REvil ransomware group. 
BlackCat built its RaaS platform in Rust, and gained notoriety after 
breaching MGM Casino Resorts. 

The top three are rounded off by Akira, believed to be the heir to Conti 
(which fell apart approximately at the start of the Russo-Ukrainian 
conflict). Akira targets SMBs because its easier and these firms respond 
quicker, the researchers said. Akira was responsible for the attack on Ciscos 
VPN products. Other notable mentions include Royal (a successor to Ryuk), 
LockBit 3.0, and Black Basta currently the only two names on this list that 
havent rebranded. More from TechRadar Pro Online scammers target desperate 
loan seekers using online fraud Here's a list of the best firewalls today 
These are the best endpoint protection software right now



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Link to news story:
https://www.techradar.com/pro/security/these-were-the-nastiest-malware-strains
-of-2023-so-stay-on-your-guard


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