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A new report from McAfee Labs records 478 new cyberthreats every minute and eight every second . It shows how cybercriminals embrace novel techniques and schemes to capture new revenue streams .

McAfee , the device-to-cloud cybersecurity company , has released its McAfee Labs Threats Report : March 2018 , examining the growth and trends of new malware , ransomware , and other threats in the fourth quarter ( Q4 ) of 2017 .

McAfee Labs saw on average eight new threat samples per second and the increasing use of fileless malware attacks leveraging Microsoft PowerShell . The Q4 spike in Bitcoin value prompted cybercriminals to focus on cryptocurrency hijacking through a variety of methods , including malicious Android apps .

“ The fourth quarter was defined by rapid cybercriminal adoption of newer tools and schemes : fileless malware , cryptocurrency mining and steganography . Even tried-andtrue tactics , such as ransomware campaigns , were leveraged beyond their usual means to create smoke and mirrors to distract defenders from actual attacks ,” said Raj Samani , McAfee Fellow and Chief Scientist . “ Collaboration and liberalised information-sharing to improve attack defences remain critically important as defenders work to combat escalating asymmetrical cyberwarfare .”

Each quarter , McAfee Labs assesses the state of the cyberthreat landscape based on threat data gathered by the McAfee Global Threat Intelligence cloud from hundreds of millions of sensors across multiple threat vectors around the world . McAfee Advanced Threat Research complements McAfee Labs by providing in-depth investigative analysis of cyberattacks from around

the globe .

Cybercriminals take on new strategies

The fourth quarter of 2017 saw the rise of newly diversified cybercriminals , as a significant number of actors embraced novel criminal activities to capture new revenue streams . For instance , the spike in the value of Bitcoin prompted actors to branch out from moneymakers such as ransomware , to the practice of hijacking Bitcoin and Monero wallets .

McAfee researchers discovered Android apps developed exclusively for the purpose of cryptocurrency mining and observed discussions in underground forums suggesting Litecoin as a safer model than Bitcoin , with less chance of exposure .

Cybercriminals also continued to adopt fileless malware leveraging Microsoft PowerShell , which surged 432 % over the course of 2017 , as the threat category became a go-to toolbox . The scripting language was used within Microsoft Office files to execute the first stage of attacks .

Healthcare targeted

Although publicly disclosed security incidents targeting healthcare decreased by 78 % in the fourth quarter of 2017 , the sector experienced a dramatic 210 % overall increase in incidents in 2017 . Through their investigations , McAfee Advanced Threat Research analysts conclude many incidents were caused by organisational failure to comply with security best practices or address known vulnerabilities in medical software . u

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