Press Release
Updated statement regarding LockBit claims
We have completed a thorough security investigation following yesterday’s tweets by LockBit claiming they had compromised Darktrace’s internal systems. We can confirm that there has been no compromise of our systems or any of our affiliate systems. Our service to our customers remains uninterrupted and is operating as normal and no further action is required.
Press Release
Statement regarding LockBit claims
Earlier this morning we became aware of tweets from LockBit, the cyber-criminal gang, claiming that they had compromised Darktrace’s internal security systems and had accessed our data. Our security teams have run a full review of our internal systems and can see no evidence of compromise. None of the LockBit social media posts link to any compromised Darktrace data. We will continue to monitor the situation extremely closely, but based on our current investigations we are confident that our systems remain secure and all customer data is fully protected.
Press Release
Darktrace Report: Crypto Miners & Botnets Insights
- As-a-Service tools proliferating with malware loaders, cryptomining and botnets dominating attacks
- 10.4 million phishing emails detected between September and December, but novel attack techniques emerging as greater risk
- Rapid growth of threats such as ScamClub and AsynchRAT
Darktrace, a global leader in cyber security AI, has today released its 2023 End of Year Threat Report, identifying the key threats and attack methods facing businesses observed across the past 6 months. These insights, observed by Darktrace’s unique Self-Learning AI across its customer fleet, shed light on rapid shifts in the cyber security landscape and new techniques adopted by attackers attempting to sidestep traditional defences.
The findings show that as-a-Service attacks continue to dominate the threat landscape, with Malware-as-a-Service (MaaS) and Ransomware-as-a-Service (RaaS) tools making up the majority of malicious tools in use by attackers. As-a-Service tools can provide attackers with everything from pre-made malware to templates for phishing emails, payment processing systems and even helplines to enable criminals to mount attacks with limited technical knowledge.
The most common as-a-Service tools Darktrace saw in use from July to December 2023 were:
- Malware loaders (77% of investigated threats[1]), which can deliver and execute other forms of malware and enable attackers to repeatedly target affected networks.
- Cryptominers (52% of investigated threats), which use an infected device to mine for cryptocurrency.
- Botnets (39% of investigated threats), enrol users in wider networks of infected devices, which attackers then leverage in larger-scale attacks on other targets.
- Information-stealing malware (36% of investigated threats), malicious software like spyware or worms, designed to secretly access and collect sensitive data from a victim’s computer or network.
- Proxy botnets (15% of investigated threats), more sophisticated botnets that use proxies to hide the true source of their activity.
The report also reveals a changing of the guard. In its First 6: Half-Year Threat Report, Darktrace identified Hive ransomware as one of the major Ransomware-as-a-Service attacks at the beginning of 2023. With the dismantling of Hive by the US government in January 2023, Darktrace observed the rapid growth of a range of threats filling the void, including ScamClub, a malvertising actor notorious for spreading fake virus alerts to notable news sites, and AsyncRAT, responsible for attacking US infrastructure employees in recent months.
Attackers shift to advanced solutions to bypass conventional security measures
As businesses continue to rely on email and collaboration tools for communication, methods such as phishing continue to cause a headache for security teams. Darktrace detected 10.4 million phishing emails across its customer fleet between the 1st September and the 31st December 2023. But the report also highlights how cybercriminals are embracing more sophisticated tools and tactics designed to evade traditional security parameters. One example is the rise of Microsoft Teams phishing in which attackers contact employees through Teams, posing as a co-worker and tricking them into clicking malicious links. In one case in September 2023, Darktrace identified a suspected Teams phisher attempting to trick users into clicking a SharePoint link that would download the DarkGate malware and deploy further strains of malware across the network.
Another new trend identified is the growth of malware developed with multiple functions to inflict maximum damage. Often deployed by sophisticated groups like cyber cartels, these Swiss Army knife-style threats combine capabilities. For example, the recent Black Basta ransomware also spreads the Qbot banking trojan for credential theft. Such multi-tasking malware lets attackers cast a wide net to monetise infections.
"Throughout 2023, we observed significant development and evolution of malware and ransomware threats, as well as changing attacker tactics and techniques resulting from innovation in the tech industry at large, including the rise in generative AI. Against this backdrop, the breadth, scope, and complexity of threats facing organizations has grown significantly,” comments Hanah Darley, Director of Threat Research, Darktrace. “Security teams face an up-hill battle to stay ahead of attackers, and need a security stack that keeps them ahead of novel attacks, not chasing yesterday’s threats.”
Download the 2023 End of Year Threat Report at darktrace.com/threat-report-2023.
Join Darktrace on 19 March for a virtual event to explore the latest innovations needed to get ahead of the rapidly evolving threat landscape. Register today to reserve your spot.
ABOUT DARKTRACE
Darktrace (DARK.L), a global leader in cyber security artificial intelligence, is on a mission to free the world of cyber disruption. Breakthrough innovations in its Cyber AI Research Centre have resulted in over 165 patents filed and research published to contribute to the cyber security community. Rather than study attacks, Darktrace's technology continuously learns and updates its knowledge of your business data and applies that understanding to optimise your state of optimal cyber security. Darktrace's cyber AI technology provides a full lifecycle approach to cyber resilience across the entire organisation that can autonomously spot and respond to novel in progress threats within seconds. Darktrace employs over 2,300 people around the world and protects approximately 9,200 customers globally from advanced cyber threats. Darktrace was named one of TIME magazine's 'Most Influential Companies' in 2021. To learn more, visit https://darktrace.com/.
[1] The percentages above represent more than 100%, as customers are categorised into more than one threat type based on infections within each category.
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Darktrace named a Challenger in first Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Email Security Platforms · Evaluated on Completeness of Vision and Ability to Execute Darktrace, a global leader in AI for cybersecurity,today announces that Darktrace / EMAIL™, has been recognized in thefirst ever Gartner Magic Quadrant™ for Email Security Platforms (ESP) as a Challenger. Chris Kozup, Chief Marketing Officer, Darktrace, said of therecognition: “We are extremely proud to have been recognized in the first MagicQuadrant for ESP. We believe the factthat wehave seen such wide scale adoption is testament to the unique way in which wedevelop products to keep our customers safe from even the most sophisticated emailcompromises. We believe our placement reaffirms our dedication to deliveringexceptional customer service, and innovations that safeguard against the emailchallenges of today—and tomorrow.” Darktrace customers consistently acknowledge its exceptional customersupport, delivered by an award-winning[1]service team. Darktrace has the highest percentage of 5-star ratings with a 4.8rating on Gartner® Peer Insights™ out of 249 reviews as on[MW1] 19th December. We feel this unwavering commitment to customersatisfaction is evident in strong renewal rates and accelerated growth inDarktrace / EMAIL over the past few years, gaining almost 5,000 customers sinceits launch in 2019. Darktrace / EMAIL, one of the fastest-growing emailsecurity products on the market, is built on Darktrace’s unique Self-LearningAI, a multi-layered AI engine that leverages different types of AI includingNLP and behavioral analysis to detect threats, instead of traditional securitymeasures such as signatures and sandboxing. This approach enables Darktrace todetect and stop threats like business email compromise attacks and noveltechniques, including some 56% of which passed through customers’ other emailsecurity layers. This pioneering approach has enabled Darktrace to introduce industry-leadingcapabilities such as QR code analysis and automated incident investigations, alongsidedifferentiated functionality to help teams add new depth to their emailsecurity, including: Account take over and Lateral mail account compromise protection. Contributing yet another layer to the AI behavioural profile for each user, security teams can now spot early symptoms of account compromise or malicious insiders before a link or attachment payload is sent, and exfiltration occur Microsoft Teams security with advanced messaging analysis: Advancing beyond simple text analysis to behavioral and natural language content analysis that tracks context across both email and instant messaging to identify the approximately 38% of phishing, sophisticated social engineering and novel insider threats other solutions fail to capture · Drastically improveend user reporting with Cyber AI Analyst narratives: Real-time awareness training capabilities reduce falsepositives in phishing investigations by up to 60% by providing context specificanalysis of each received email to each employee as they interact with their mail.· MailboxSecurity Assistant to increase security team operational efficiency: All forms ofsecondary investigations can now automatically perform advanced behavioralbrowser analysis and stop malicious links within webpages, reducing manualeffort of security analysts to detecting phishing links, and allowing them to remediateup to 70% more malicious phishing links than before.· AI based,autonomous data loss prevention: to immediately protect organizations from misdirected emails,insider threats, and data loss—both classified and unclassified – using userbehavior and dynamic content analysis to determine sensitivity, removing administrativeoverhead from manual expressions and labeling.Marco Cavallo, IT Manager at Darktrace / EMAIL customer Arpa Industries comments:“During the POV, Darktrace / EMAIL showed how specific attacks weresurgically blocked. We realized that other tools wouldn’t have detected thesethreats.” Darktrace / EMAIL is part of Darktrace’s ActiveAI Security Platform™,offering network, cloud, endpoint, identity and operational technologyprotection from a single shared architecture, all built on Darktrace’s uniqueAI engine – providing a strong, integrated approach to threat prevention,detection and response across an organization’s entire digital footprint. Darktrace’s global presence supports a diverse and varied customer base,and adapts proactively to customer pain points of all kinds. Darktrace’sadaptability across all market segments, from SMBs to large enterprisessupports both first time email security buyers and mature email securitystacks. It is able to meet varied security needs with lower setuprequirements, includes capability for advanced depth in configuration and,particularly for mature organizations, can augment existing security providerswith additional protections. Download the fullMagic Quadrant for Email Security Platforms here Resources:· Read more onthe Darktrace Blog· Read more abouthow business email compromise attacks are evolving on The Inference Gartner disclaimersGartner, Magic Quadrant for EmailSecurity Platforms, Max Taggett, Nikul Patel, Franz Hinner, Deepak Mishra, 16December 2024 GARTNER is a registered trademarkand service mark of Gartner and Magic Quadrant and Peer Insights are aregistered trademark, of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the U.S. andinternationally and are used herein with permission. All rights reserved.
Gartner Peer Insights content consists of the opinions of individual endusers 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 viewsof Gartner or its affiliates. Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product orservice depicted in this content nor makes any warranties, expressed orimplied, with respect to this content, about its accuracy or completeness,including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particularpurpose. Gartner does not endorse any vendor,product or service depicted in its research publications and does not advisetechnology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or otherdesignation. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner’sresearch organization and should not be construed as statements of fact.Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to thisresearch, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for aparticular purpose. About DarktraceDarktrace is a global leader in AI for cybersecurity that keepsorganizations ahead of the changing threat landscape every day. Founded in2013, Darktrace provides the essential cybersecurity platform protectingorganizations from unknown threats using its proprietary AI that learns fromthe unique patterns of life for each customer in real-time. The DarktraceActiveAI Security Platform™ delivers a proactive approach to cyber resiliencewith pre-emptive visibility into security posture, real-time threat detection,and autonomous response – securing the business across cloud, email,identities, operational technology, endpoints, and network. Breakthroughinnovations from our R&D teams in Cambridge, UK, and The Hague, Netherlandshave resulted in over 200 patent applications filed. Darktrace’s platform andservices are supported by over 2,400 employees around the world who protectnearly 10,000 customers across all major industries globally. To learn more,visit http://www.darktrace.com. ----
[1] Darktrace wins two Globeeawards for excellent customer service [PressRelease] [MW1]shouldthis be 'of'
About Darktrace
