“New” Forms of Cyberattack

The New Hacktivist

No longer a joke or misguided “public service,” hacktivism has become a tool of groups like Anonymous and rogue political actors such as ISIS.

• Anonymous uses Internet Relay Chat or Twitter to coordinate thousands of users – sometimes internationally – and maximize the efficacy of attacks.
• ISIS hacked into a military support group posting direct threats to military spouses.
• ISIS hackers were also attributed with bringing down the US Military Command Center website and Malaysia Airlines website.

Ransomware

Rather than accessing data with little notice and then reselling it on the black market, criminal syndicates are now “ransoming” data for direct payment from organizations.

• Malware has been created that freezes access to every file, including photos, documents, and programs with a secret pass key known only to the hacker.
• Hackers have now organized into crime syndicates that boldly launch massive attacks against entire companies.
• CryptoLocker is the first mainstream attack where security companies don’t have a method for decrypting the virus… There is virtually no cure.

Nation-State / Sony

It’s feared that this unprecedented attack by a foreign nation against a specific corporation is the harbinger of future cyber warfare.

• Irreplaceable data was destroyed, executives and employees humiliated and routine daily business brought to a halt for weeks.
• As noted in the Financial Times and other publications, large quantities of Sony’s data were systematically destroyed.
• For weeks after the attack, due to fear of additional attacks and digital violations, Sony’s internal use of email, online services, computer hardware and software was out of the question.

“”World War III will be fought online…”
Fred Moore, Industry Analyst, Horison Information Strategies