More and more cyber attacks are being conducted by “lone wolves”, a cyber security company has warned.
Infighting between hackers as well as takedowns from law enforcement have broken apart many of the groups behind cyber attacks, according to security firm Bridewell.
That has meant that the hacking landscape has become “more volatile and difficult to defend against”, according to the company’s annual report on cyber security.
At the same time, the availability of public tools that make it easier to launch cyber attacks means that it is easier for attackers to work on their own, leading attackers to work on their own instead.
Cyber attackers are also victim to their own scams, meaning that it can be safe to work on their own. “Exist scams” – where a group does not share the proceeds from ransoms that are paid to hackers to stop attacks – mean that hackers can distrust other cyber criminals and work on their own instead, the company warned.
Those are just some of the findings from the company’s annual report into the changing cyber security landscape.
It also suggested that the nature of those attacks has been changing. Previously, many attacks were encryption-based, where attackers would lock up systems behind a password that would be given in return for a ransom – but those are giving way to attacks where hackers steal data and then extort its owner for money.
Those encryption-based attacks tend to give bigger one-off payments, because they often attack key infrastructure that mean that victims are more likely to pay out increased sums. But the new kinds of attacks are more likely to actually work, especially since companies are worried about the damage that might be done to their business if their data is stolen and then used by the hackers.
