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Valid accounts are the weapon of choice for cybercriminals

Visibility360, PDF version to share

By Kate McCaffery | Feb. 22, 2024, 10:05 a.m.

Photo: Freepik

The 2024 X-Force Threat Intelligence Index from IBM is now available, showing a notable decline in the number of phishing attacks on organizations, while identity theft and the use of valid accounts to log in to an organization, rather than hack in, has become a preferred tactic for threat actors.

Ransomware attacks on enterprises dropped 12 per cent in 2023, in part because larger organizations are more frequently pushing back and opting to rebuild their infrastructure rather than pay their attackers. Also, notable this year is new analysis related to artificial intelligence (AI).

Single generative AI technology

“X-Force analysis projects that when a single generative AI technology approaches 50 per cent market share, or when the market consolidates to three or less technologies, it could trigger at-scale attacks against these platforms,” the report warns. “It’s paramount that enterprises secure their AI models before cybercriminals scale their activity. “

Charles Henderson, global managing partner with IBM Consulting and head of IBM X-Force says “identity is being used against enterprises time and again, a problem that will worsen as adversaries invest in AI to optimize the tactic.”

Accessible on the Dark Web

They add that exploiting valid credentials has become the path of least resistance for cybercriminals, as billions of compromised credentials are accessible on the Dark Web today. “The majority of successful attacks on government agencies, critical infrastructure organizations and state-level government bodies in 2022 involved the use of valid accounts.” They add that 70 per cent of all attacks X-Force responded to were against critical infrastructure organizations.

By the numbers, IBM reports a 71 per cent year-over-year increase in the volume of attacks using valid credentials. Among the report’s recommendations, researchers suggest knowing your company’s dark web exposure by finding at-risk credentials and by checking executive’s digital identities regularly.

Security misconfigurations

Ransomware demands also dropped 11.5 per cent during the year while the presence of infostealer programs surged 266 per cent. X-Force also found that 30 per cent of the risks identified during testing engagements were due to security misconfigurations. Phishing attacks declined to 30 per cent, down from 41 per cent in 2022. Attacks exploiting public facing applications held relatively steady at 29 per cent, up from 26 per cent in 2022.