03-03-2018 , 06:26 PM
Quote:Security Alert: Attackers Using Brute-Force to Spread Ransomware
How a weak password can damage your entire system
October is known as the Cyber Security Awareness Month. It is an annual campaign that tries to make everyone more conscious about the importance of cyber security in the online landscape.
Almost every day we read and find out about a new type of malware threatening our online security. Cyber criminals are getting more skilled and try advanced techniques to get access to users’ valuable data. It’s no surprise that 2017 is mostly shaped by a record number of ransomware attacks.
Unlike other forms of cyber attacks, ransomware remains one the most profitable malware attack for cybercriminals. A new report called “The Ransomware Economy”, mentioned that, from 2016 to 2017, “there has been a 2,502% increase in the sale of ransomware on the dark web.” Most likely, ransomware attacks will continue to grow and maintain their status as a serious global threat.
Our team has recently seen in the wild how online criminals try alternative ways to spread ransomware and compromise high-value targets. The bad guys now target admin passwords through brute force attacks and dictionary attacks.
What’s new in this type of angle attack is that online criminals hack into unprotected remote desktop protocols and manually execute the ransomware. Moreover, the main purpose is to use different pieces of software and remain unnoticed.
Brute-force attacks (also known as brute force cracking) are trial and error methods used by online criminals to guess users’ personal information such as passwords or PINs. Basically, they try every possible passwords or combinations of letters and numbers until they figure out the correct one.
Dictionary attacks refer to the techniques used to breach an authentication mechanism by systematically using each word in a dictionary (no matter the language) as a password or trying to determine the decryption key of an encrypted document or message.
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