"Two-Thirds of Global Banks Report Surge in Destructive Attacks"

Researchers at VMware have discovered that nearly two-thirds (63%) of global financial institutions experienced a rise in destructive attacks over the past year, with many fearing further threats as the war in Ukraine escalates.  The researchers polled 130 financial-sector CISOs and security leaders worldwide to compile its Modern Bank Heists report.  According to the head of cybersecurity strategy at VMware, Tom Kellermann, the number of participants reporting an increase in destructive malware surged 17% from last year’s report.  Tom noted that destructive attacks are launched punitively to destroy, disrupt, or degrade victim systems by taking actions such as encrypting files, deleting data, destroying hard drives, terminating connections, or executing malicious code.  Nearly three-quarters (74%) of respondents experienced at least one ransomware attack over the past year, with 63% paying the ransom, a figure Tom branded “staggering.”  Tom argued that ransomware-as-a-service offerings and remote access tools (RATs) have helped cybercriminals be more successful during cyberattacks against banks.  Tom noted that ransomware has a sinister relationship with these RATs, given these tools allow bad actors to persist within the environment and establish a staging server that can be used to target additional systems.  Once an adversary has gained this limited access, they will typically work to monetize it by relying on the victim’s data for extortion (including double and triple extortion) or through stealing resources from cloud services using cryptojacking attacks.

Infosecurity reports: "Two-Thirds of Global Banks Report Surge in Destructive Attacks"