Eyeing companies’ most valuable assets, cybercriminals deployed more strategic cyberattacks in 2017

Eyeing companies’ most valuable assets, cybercriminals deployed more strategic cyberattacks in 2017

Trend Micro’s 2017 Security Roundup Report also reveals a dip in overall ransomware threats; but APAC still the most affected region

SINGAPORE, March 12, 2018 – Trend Micro Incorporated (TYO: 4704; TSE: 4704), a global leader in cybersecurity solutions, today released its 2017 Annual Security Roundup Report that shows cybercriminals are utilizing more strategic methods to achieve a higher success rate and return on investment.

“Cybercriminals are becoming smarter with their attacks as technologies continue to reach new frontiers,” said Dhanya Thakkar, Managing Director and Vice President, Asia, Middle East and Africa (AMEA), Trend Micro. “In 2017, 553 data breaches were made public, compared to 813 in 2016. But the number of affected records reached almost 5 billion, compared to 3.3 billion in 2016. Ransomware threats and exploit kits also decreased in 2017, signaling a shift away from spray-and-pray attacks, and towards smaller-scale, more effective, and more targeted attacks.” 

Trend Micro recorded 1.7 billion ransomware threats from 2016 to the end of 2017, and Asia Pacific accounted for almost 40 percent of the total threats. In 2017 alone, 630 million threats were detected, a significant decrease from 2016 (1.07 billion). However, a 32 percent increase in new ransomware families in 2017 was observed. Despite having fewer big ransomware families make their mark in 2017 than 2016, major variants, such as WannaCry and Petya, were responsible for large-scale, contagious attacks and incurred an estimated $5 billion in losses globally.

The 2017 Annual Security Roundup Report also confirmed APAC as the region affected by the highest number of threats in most of the categories recorded, including ransomware (contributing 40 percent of all threats globally); exploit kit attacks (70 percent); PCs infected by online banking malware (55 percent); and malicious mobile app downloads (72 percent). Trend Micro detected 3.3 million malicious mobile apps in APAC in 2017, five times more than the second-most affected region (EMEA, 617,290).

In addition, the report reveals a doubling of Business Email Compromise (BEC) attempts between the first and second half of 2017; and soaring rates of cryptocurrency mining malware, peaking at more than 100,000 detections in October.

Vulnerable IoT devices are also a major security risk across several trending threats. Trend Micro detected more than 45.6 million cryptocurrency mining events globally during the year, representing a large percentage of all IoT events observed. Software vulnerabilities also continued to be targeted, with 1,008 new flaws discovered and disclosed in 2017 through Trend Micro’s Zero Day Initiative and their 3,500+ independent white hat researchers.

Thakkar continues: “The rising number of intelligent threats highlights the importance for individuals and businesses of all sizes to ramp up their cybersecurity efforts. Adopting a cross-generational strategy that includes a blend of security protections and risk mitigations can help to defend against old and new threats.”

The report, titled ‘The Paradox of Cyberthreats’ validates insights from Trend Micro’s predictions for 2018.

About Trend Micro

Trend Micro Incorporated, a global leader in cybersecurity solutions, helps to make the world safe for exchanging digital information. Our innovative solutions for consumers, businesses, and governments provide layered security for data centers, cloud environments, networks and endpoints. All our products work together to seamlessly share threat intelligence and provide a connected threat defense with centralized visibility and control, enabling better, faster protection. With nearly 6,000 employees in more than 50 countries and the world’s most advanced global threat intelligence, Trend Micro enables organizations to secure their journey to the cloud. For more information, visit www.trendmicro.com.