Mimecast report analyses 99
billion rejected emails
types discovered in the quarter: spam,
impersonation, opportunistic and
targeted. This quarter’s report found that
impersonation attacks are on the rise,
accounting for 26% of total detections
– and now includes voice phishing or
‘vishing’, an advanced attack observed
in this quarter, where threat actors use
social engineering to gain access to
personal and financial information via the
victim’s telephone system.
Josh Douglas, Vice President of Threat
Intelligence at Mimecast
imecast Limited, a leading email
and data security company, has
announced the availability of its
quarterly Threat Intelligence Report: Risk
and Resilience Insights.
M
The report provides technical analysis
from the Mimecast Threat Centre from July
to September 2019 on the nature of attack
campaigns in addition to observations
and analysis of evolving threats. Outlining
the trends emerging from these identified
attacks and assessing the current
behaviour of threat actors can help
organisations better understand the
impact these factors will have on the
cybersecurity landscape in 2020.
This research looks through the lens
of the four main categories of attack
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Issue 21
These sophisticated attacks are
likely carried out by organised and
determined threat actors, employing
obfuscation, layering, exploits, and
encryption to evade detection.
Additionally, throughout the research, it
was clear three industries were targeted
Threat actors seek
numerous ways into
an organisation – from
using sophisticated
tactics, like voice
phishing and domain
spoofing, to simple
attacks like spam.
“Threat actors seek numerous ways
into an organisation – from using
sophisticated tactics, like voice
phishing and domain spoofing, to
simple attacks like spam,” said Josh
Douglas, Vice President of Threat
Intelligence at Mimecast.
“This quarter’s research found that the
majority of threats were simple, sheer
volume attacks. Easy to execute, but not
as easy to protect against as it shines
a very bright light on the role human
error could play in an organisation’s
vulnerability. Organisations need to
take a pervasive approach to email
security – one that integrates the right
security tools allowing for greater
visibility at, in and beyond the perimeter.
This approach also requires educating
the last line of defence – employees.
Coupling technology with a force of
well-trained human eyes will help
organisations strengthen their security
postures to defend against both simple
and sophisticated threats.”
Of the 207 billion emails processed,
there were 25 significant malware
campaigns identified this quarter
which incorporated Azorult, Hawkeye,
Nanocore, Netwired, Lokibot, Locky
and Remcos. The campaigns observed
range from simple phishing campaigns
to multi-vector campaigns alternating
file types and attack vector, types of
malware and vulnerabilities. u
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The Mimecast Threat Intelligence Report
includes analysis of 207 billion emails
processed by Mimecast, 99 billion of
which were rejected. The report keeps
organisations informed on the threats
that are targeting their industries, so
they can better prepare for and protect
themselves against threats inside, at and
beyond the perimeter.
While the report uncovered a mixture of
simple, low effort and low-cost attacks
targeting Mimecast customers, the data
highlights complex, targeted campaigns
leveraging a variety of vectors and
lasting several days.
the most by cyberattacks. Banking
and legal, industries that are rich with
sensitive information that yield results
for threat actors and transportation,
where state-sponsored threat actors
seek to disrupt the logistical and supply
capability of rivals.