Security News > 2024 > February > Understanding the tactics of stealthy hunter-killer malware

Drawing parallels from the stealthy and offensive nature of hunter-killer submarines, these malware strains evade security measures with precision and proactively seek out and impair security tools, firewalls, logging services, audit systems, and other protective measures within an infected system.

These sophisticated malware execute comprehensive attack campaigns by blending covert operations with aggressive assaults on security controls - posing a high-level challenge to organizational cyber defense efforts.

"Just as these subs move silently through deep waters and launch devastating attacks to defeat their targets' defenses, new malware is designed to not only evade security tools but actively bring them down. We believe cybercriminals are changing tact in response to the security of average businesses being much-improved, and widely used tools offering far more advanced capabilities to detect threats. A year ago, it was relatively rare for adversaries to disable security controls. Now, this behavior is seen in a quarter of malware samples and is used by virtually every ransomware group and APT group," Ozarslan continued.

To ensure cyber defenses are theoretically robust and practically effective, security teams must embrace security validation to consistently test and optimize their readiness to prevent, detect, and respond to these sophisticated threats.

70% of malware analyzed now employ stealth-oriented techniques by attackers, particularly those that facilitate evading security measures and maintaining persistence in networks.

To combat hunter-killer malware and stay ahead of 2024 malware trends, Picus is urging organizations to embrace machine learning, protect user credentials, and consistently validate their defenses against the latest tactics and techniques used by cybercriminals.

News URL

https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2024/02/15/hunter-killer-malware/