INDUSTRY WATCH
“ONE UNDERLYING
ASSUMPTION IS THAT,
AT EVERY MOMENT,
THERE IS AT LEAST ONE
COMPROMISED SYSTEM
ON THE NETWORK.”
M
cAfee Inc. has released its
McAfee Labs Threats Report:
September 2017, which
examines the rise of script-based
malware, suggests five proven threat
hunting best practices, provides an
analysis of the recent WannaCry
and NotPetya ransomware attacks,
assesses reported attacks across
industries, and reveals growth trends
in malware, ransomware, mobile
malware, and other threats in Q2
2017. McAfee Labs saw healthcare
surpass public sector to report the
greatest number of security incidents
in Q2, while the Faceliker Trojan
helped drive the quarter’s 67%
increase in new malware samples
from the social media landscape.
The second quarter of 2017 saw
Facebook emerge as a notable attack
vector, with Faceliker accounting for
as much as 8.9% of the quarter’s
52 million newly detected malware
samples. This Trojan infects a user’s
browser when they visit malicious or
compromised websites. It then hijacks
their Facebook ‘likes’ and promotes
the content without their knowledge
or permission. Doing so at scale can
earn money for the malicious parties
behind Faceliker given the hijacked
clicks can make a news article, video,
website or ad appear more popular or
trusted than it truly is.
“Faceliker leverages and manipulates
the social media and app based
communications we increasingly
use today,” said Vincent Weafer,
Vice President for McAfee Labs.
“By making apps or news articles
www.intelligentcio.com
appear more popular, accepted and
legitimate among friends, unknown
actors can covertly influence the way
we perceive value and even truth. As
long as there is profit in such efforts,
we should expect to see more such
schemes in the future.”
McAfee Labs’ quarterly analysis of
publicly disclosed security incidents
found the public sector to be the
most impacted North American
sector over the last six quarters, but
healthcare overtook it in Q2 with
26% of incidents.
While overall healthcare data
breaches are most likely the result of
accidental disclosures and human
error, cyberattacks on the sector
continue to increase. The trend
began the first quarter of 2016
when numerous hospitals around
the world sustained ransomware
attacks. The attacks paralysed several
departments and, in some cases, the
hospitals had to transfer patients and
postpone surgeries.
“Whether physical or digital, data
breaches in healthcare highlight
the value of the sensitive personal
information organisations in the
sector possess,” Weafer continued.
“They also reinforce the need for
stronger corporate security policies
that work to ensure the safe handling
of that information.”
Q2 2017 Threat Activity
In the second quarter of 2017,
the McAfee Labs Global Threat
INTELLIGENTCIO
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