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April 7, 2020

Four Ways Cyber-Criminals Fly Under the Radar

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07
Apr 2020
Learn how cyber criminals evade detection. Darktrace analyses the four ways they operate under the radar. Read here to stay vigilant against cyber attacks.

The challenge of reliably attributing cyber-threats has amplified in recent years, as adversaries adopt a collection of techniques to ensure that even if their attacks are caught, they themselves escape detection and avoid punishment.

Detecting a threat is, of course, a very different technical challenge compared to tracing that activity back to a human operator. Nevertheless, at some point after the dust has settled, during the post-hoc incident analysis for example, someone somewhere may need to know who the suspects are. And in spite of all of our other advances, and also some recent successes in attributing offensive and cyber-criminal acts, only three out of every 100,000 cyber-crimes are prosecuted. Put simply, this is still an unsolved set of problems. Many of the successes we do have can be attributed more to operational security fails on the criminals’ end than any other active approaches. In fact, some recent trends have actually made reliable attribution even more challenging.

The four cyber-threat trends that make attribution difficult

There are four related trends in how threat-actors can procure and obtain attack capabilities that have resulted in an increase in complexity when attempting to reliably identify Tools, Techniques, and Procedures (TTPs) and attributing them to distinct threat-actors.

A Cybercrime-as-a-Service economy and supply chain allowing cyber-criminals to mix and match off the shelf offensive cyber capabilities.

Expansion of ‘Living off the Land’ (LoL) tool usage by threat-actors to evade traditional, signature-based security defenses, and to obfuscate their activity.

While Code Reuse has always existed in the hacker community, copying nation-state-grade attack code has recently become possible.

The barrier to entry for criminally motivated operators has been lowered, providing the means for less technical criminals, who are only limited by time and their imagination.

Figure 1: The four cyber-threat trends

Threat-actors can mix and match attack tools, creating attack stacks that can be tailored for a variety of campaigns.

Between a professional marketplace of cyber-crime tools and services, the increasing adoption of ‘Living off the Land’ techniques, and the reusing of code leaked from nation-state intelligence services, threat-actors with even the most limited technical ability can conduct highly sophisticated criminal campaigns. Prospective cyber-criminals now have four primary types of attack tools to choose from – with three of them brand new or greatly enhanced. Even more importantly, these threat-actors can mix and match attack tools, creating tactically flexible attack stacks that can be tailored for a variety of campaigns against a diverse set of victims.

Off the shelf attacks

The burgeoning and increasingly professional Cybercrime-as-a-Service market (estimated at $1.6B) provides a thriving marketplace of microservices, attack code, and attack platforms. Anyone with a motive and enough bitcoin and enthusiasm can become the next ‘cyber Don Corleone’. Many of these services offer dedicated account management and professional support 24 hours a day. The commercialization of the cyber-crime supply chain has raised the barrier to entry for Cybercrime-as-a-Service vendors, while at the same time lowering it for cyber-criminal operators.

Living off the Land

‘Living off the Land’ (LoL) and “malware-less” attacks have been on the rise for some time now. What makes these attack methods so dangerous is that they leverage standard operating system tools to conduct their nefarious business, making signature-based approaches that look for malware heuristics ineffective – including signature-based Intrusion Protection Systems.

These attacks in particular demonstrate the need for an approach to cyber security that goes beyond looking at what malware is being used. Rather than relying on static blacklists, security teams are instead turning to a more sophisticated approach that learns ‘normal’ for every user and device across an entire business. From that evolving baseline, this approach to defense can identify and contain anomalous activity indicative of a cyber-threat – all in real time.

Code reuse and repurpose

What is new, and unprecedented, is that cyber-criminals are gaining access to intelligence and nation-state grade attack code.

Hackers have always begged, borrowed, and stolen code from others, including attack code – just two notable examples include the Zeus trojan and RIG exploit kit code leaks that provided the code base for much of the current generation of threats. What is new and unprecedented is that, whether through malice or incompetence, cyber-criminals are gaining access to intelligence and nation-state grade attack code. The Shadowbroker leaks that resulted in Wannacry is one recent example of this trend, and one we expect to accelerate – especially with intelligence services actively outing each other’s methods.

Custom and bespoke techniques

The practice of hackers creating their own tools and researching their own exploits has a long and hallowed tradition, with headline-grabbing zero-days becoming more and more common. Nation-state actors in particular often make a distinction between attack operators and attack code developers, with the ability to request tailored and bespoke code and tools – not unlike the model that has been replicated in the Cybercrime-as-a-Service market. Even when developing custom tools, threat-actors frequently integrate code and exploits from other parties.

Figure 2: The four main attack tool types

When determining who is actually behind these attacks, though, what is most important is the ability to combine all four types of attack tools – this provides a further layer of obfuscation against methods that rely on pattern matching for detection whilst causing additional confusion for would-be investigators. An attacker can use any combination and variation of these tool types to create a different “Chimera” attack stack – making it that much more difficult to identify who is really the operator. Telling apart the operator from the Cybercrime-as-a-Service vendor, for example, is difficult when most of the TTPs that are evaluated are technical and derive from the tooling.

Figure 3: The TTP and Attribution Confusion Chain

Conclusion

As the challenge of attribution intensifies, our focus must turn to defending against cyber-attacks themselves.

The combination of the four threat trends outlined above has lowered the barrier to entry for criminally motivated operators. Less technical adversaries are now able to launch attacks at a speed and scale previously confined to the most organized and well-financed cyber-criminal rings. This change in circumstances has made attribution of offensive cyber activity drastically more complex, and it may be some time before the prosecution rate for cyber-crime gets good enough that it can act as a greater disincentive.

As the challenge of attribution intensifies, our focus must turn to defending against cyber-attacks themselves. You may not ever know who is attacking you, but if you can successfully thwart the full range of threats, new and old, your organization can continue to operate as normal.

Fortunately, defenders’ abilities to detect and respond to cyber-threats have significantly advanced in recent years, thanks to the latest developments in AI and machine learning. Over 3,500 organizations now rely on Cyber AI to detect and contain cyber-threats – whether attackers use pre-existing OS tools to masquerade their attacks or use bespoke and entirely new techniques to bypass rules and signatures. When a threat is identified, AI can respond autonomously by enforcing a user or device’s ‘pattern of life’, allowing ‘business as usual’ whilst ensuring the organization is protected from harm.

Inside the SOC
Darktrace cyber analysts are world-class experts in threat intelligence, threat hunting and incident response, and provide 24/7 SOC support to thousands of Darktrace customers around the globe. Inside the SOC is exclusively authored by these experts, providing analysis of cyber incidents and threat trends, based on real-world experience in the field.
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Oliver Rochford
Technical Director
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March 28, 2025

Darktrace Recognized as the Only Visionary in the 2025 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for CPS Protection Platforms

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We are thrilled to announce that Darktrace has been named the only Visionary in the inaugural Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS) Protection Platforms. We feel This recognition highlights Darktrace’s AI-driven approach to securing industrial environments, where conventional security solutions struggle to keep pace with increasing cyber threats.

A milestone for CPS security

It's our opinion that the first-ever Gartner Magic Quadrant for CPS Protection Platforms reflects a growing industry shift toward purpose-built security solutions for critical infrastructure. As organizations integrate IT, OT, and cloud-connected systems, the cyber risk landscape continues to expand. Gartner evaluated 17 vendors based on their Ability to Execute and Completeness of Vision, establishing a benchmark for security leaders looking to enhance cyber resilience in industrial environments.

We believe the Gartner recognition of Darktrace as the only Visionary reaffirms the platform’s ability to proactively defend against cyber risks through AI-driven anomaly detection, autonomous response, and risk-based security strategies. With increasingly sophisticated attacks targeting industrial control systems, organizations need a solution that continuously evolves to defend against both known and unknown threats.

AI-driven security for CPS environments

Securing CPS environments requires an approach that adapts to the dynamic nature of industrial operations. Traditional security tools rely on static signatures and predefined rules, leaving gaps in protection against novel and sophisticated threats. Darktrace / OT takes a different approach, leveraging Self-Learning AI to detect and neutralize threats in real time, even in air-gapped or highly regulated environments.

Darktrace / OT continuously analyzes network behaviors to establish a deep understanding of what is “normal” for each industrial environment. This enables it to autonomously identify deviations that signal potential cyber threats, providing early warning and proactive defense before attacks can disrupt operations. Unlike rule-based security models that require constant manual updates, Darktrace / OT improves with the environment, ensuring long-term resilience against emerging cyber risks.

Bridging the IT-OT security gap

A major challenge for organizations protecting CPS environments is the disconnect between IT and OT security. While IT security has traditionally focused on data

protection and compliance, OT security is driven by operational uptime and safety, leading to siloed security programs that leave critical gaps in visibility and response.

Darktrace / OT eliminates these silos by providing unified visibility across IT, OT, and IoT assets, ensuring that security teams have a complete picture of their attack surface. Its AI-driven approach enables cross-domain threat detection, recognizing risks that move laterally between IT and OT environments. By seamlessly integrating with existing security architectures, Darktrace / OT helps organizations close security gaps without disrupting industrial processes.

Proactive OT risk management and resilience

Beyond detection and response, Darktrace / OT strengthens organizations’ ability to manage cyber risk proactively. By mapping vulnerabilities to real-world attack paths, it prioritizes remediation actions based on actual exploitability and business impact, rather than relying on isolated CVE scores. This risk-based approach enables security teams to focus resources where they matter most, reducing overall exposure to cyber threats.

With autonomous threat response capabilities, Darktrace / OT not only identifies risks but also contains them in real time, preventing attackers from escalating intrusions. Whether mitigating ransomware, insider threats, or sophisticated nation-state attacks, Darktrace / OT ensures that industrial environments remain secure, operational, and resilient, no matter how threats evolve.

AI-powered incident response and SOC automation

Security teams are facing an overwhelming volume of alerts, making it difficult to prioritize threats and respond effectively. Darktrace / OT’s Cyber AI Analyst acts as a force multiplier for security teams by automating threat investigation, alert triage, and response actions. By mimicking the workflow of a human SOC analyst, Cyber AI Analyst provides contextual insights that accelerate incident response and reduce the manual workload on security teams.

With 24/7 autonomous monitoring, Darktrace / OT ensures that threats are continuously detected and investigated in real time. Whether facing ransomware, insider threats, or sophisticated nation-state attacks, organizations can rely on AI-driven security to contain threats before they disrupt operations.

Trusted by customers: Darktrace / OT recognized in Gartner Peer Insights

Source: Gartner Peer Insights (Oct 28th)

Beyond our recognition in the Gartner Magic Quadrant, we feel Darktrace / OT is one of the highest-rated CPS security solutions on Gartner Peer Insights, reflecting strong customer trust and validation. With a 4.9/5 overall rating and the highest "Willingness to Recommend" score among CPS vendors, organizations across critical infrastructure and industrial sectors recognize the impact of our AI-driven security approach. Source: Gartner Peer Insights (Oct 28th)

This strong customer endorsement underscores why leading enterprises trust Darktrace / OT to secure their CPS environments today and in the future.

Redefining the future of CPS security

It's our view that Darktrace’s recognition as the only Visionary in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for CPS Protection Platforms validates its leadership in next-generation industrial security. As cyber threats targeting critical infrastructure continue to rise, organizations must adopt AI-driven security solutions that can adapt, respond, and mitigate risks in real time.

We believe this recognition reinforces our commitment to innovation and our mission to secure the world’s most essential systems. This recognition reinforces our commitment to innovation and our mission to secure the world’s most essential systems.

® Download the full Gartner Magic Quadrant for CPS Protection Platforms

® Request a demo to see Darktrace OT in action.

Gartner, Magic Quadrant for CPS Protection Platforms , Katell Thielemann, Wam Voster, Ruggero Contu 12 February 2025

Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in its research publications and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner’s research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.

GARTNER is a registered trademark and service mark of Gartner and Magic Quadrant and Peer Insights are a registered trademark, of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and internationally and are used herein with permission. All rights reserved. Gartner Peer Insights content consists of the opinions of individual end users based on their own experiences with the vendors listed on the platform, should not be construed as statements of fact, nor do they represent the views of Gartner or its affiliates. Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in this content nor makes any warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this content, about its accuracy or completeness, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.

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Pallavi Singh
Product Marketing Manager, OT Security & Compliance

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March 28, 2025

Survey Findings: AI Cybersecurity Priorities and Objectives in 2025

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AI is changing the cybersecurity field, both on the offensive and defensive sides. We surveyed over 1,500 cybersecurity professionals from around the world to uncover their attitudes, understanding, and priorities when it comes to AI cybersecurity in 2025. Our full report, unearthing some telling trends, is available now.  

Download the full report to explore these findings in depth

It is clear that security professionals know their field is changing fast, and that AI will continue to influence those changes. Our survey results show that they are aware that the rise of AI will require them to adopt new tools and learn to use them effectively. Still, they aren’t always certain about how to plan for the future, or what to invest in.

The top priorities of security stakeholders for improving their defenses against AI-powered threats include augmenting their existing tool stacks with AI-powered solutions and improving integration among their security tools.

Figure 1: Year-over-year changes to the priorities of securitystakeholders.

Increasing cybersecurity staff

As was also the case last year, security stakeholders are less interested in hiring additional staff than in adding new AI-powered tools onto their existing security stacks, with only with 11% (and only 8% of executives) planning to increase cybersecurity staff in 2025.

This suggests that leaders are looking for new methods to overcome talent resource shortages.

Adding AI-powered security tools to supplement existing solutions

Executives are particularly enthusiastic about adopting AI-driven tools. Within that goal, there is consensus about the qualities cyber professionals are looking for when purchasing new security capabilities or replacing existing products.

  • 87% of survey respondents prefer solutions that are part of a broader platform over individual point products

These results are similar to last year’s, where again, almost nine out of ten agreed that a platform-oriented security solution was more effective at stopping cyber threats than a collection of individual products.

  • 88% of survey respondents agree that the use of AI within the security stack is critical to freeing up time for security teams to become more proactive, compared to reactive

AI itself can contribute to this shift from reactive to proactive security, improving risk prioritization and automating preventative strategies like Attack Surface Management (ASM) and proactive exposure management.

  • 84% of survey respondents prefer defensive AI solutions that do not require the organization’s data to be shared externally

This preference may reflect increasing attention to the data privacy and security risks posed by generative AI (gen AI) adoption. It may also reflect growing awareness of data residency requirements and other restrictions that regulators are imposing.

Improving cybersecurity awareness training for end users

Based on the survey results, practitioners in SecOps are more interested in improving security awareness training.

This goal is not necessarily mutually exclusive from the addition of AI tools. For example, teams can leverage AI to build more effective security awareness training programs, and as gen AI tools are adopted, users will need to be taught about data privacy and associated security risks.

Looking towards the future

One conclusion we can draw from the attitudinal shifts from last year’s survey to this year’s: while hiring more security staff might be a nice-to-have, implementing AI-powered tools so that existing employees can work smarter is increasingly viewed as a must-have.

However, trending goals are not just about managing resources, whether headcount or AI investments, to keep up with workloads. Existing end users must also be trained to follow safe practices while using established and newly adopted tools.

Security professionals, including executives, SecOps, and every role in between, continue to shift their identified challenges and priorities as they gear up for the coming year in the Era of AI.

State of AI report

Download the full report to explore these findings in depth

The full report for Darktrace’s State of AI Cybersecurity is out now. Download the paper to dig deeper into these trends, and see how results differ by industry, region, organization size, and job title.  

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