10 Emerging Cybersecurity Threats And Hacker Tactics In 2023
October 2, 2023 – Published on CRN
For some attackers who are just focusing on data theft and extortion rather than encryption, they’ve got a new tactic: Rather than maximizing disruption for victims, some attackers are seeking to minimize it, cyberthreat experts told CRN. This effort is part of an effort to rebrand themselves almost as security advisors, the experts said.
At GuidePoint Security, the incident response team has encountered multiple cases where attackers have told their victims, “‘we did you the favor of not encrypting your environment,’” said Mark Lance, vice president for DFIR and threat intelligence at GuidePoint.
Such attackers will then provide a “security audit report” outlining how to better secure a breached victim’s environment, Lance said. “They consider themselves [to be] basically providing a security consulting service.”