Good, Perfect, Best: how the analyst can enhance penetration testing results

Penetration testing is something that many of those who know what a pentest is see as a search for weak spots and well-known vulnerabilities in clients infrastructure, and a bunch of copied-and-pasted recommendations on how to deal with the security holes thus discovered. In truth, it is not so...

What threatens corporations in 2023: media blackmail, fake leaks and cloud attacks

Kaspersky detects an average of 400,000 malicious files every day. These add up to 144 million annually. The threat landscape is constantly updated through new malware and spyware, advanced phishing methods, and new social engineering techniques. The media routinely report incidents and leaks of...

Policy trends: where are we today on regulation in cyberspace?

This is the first edition of our policy analysis and observations of trends in the regulation of cyberspace, and cybersecurity, within the Kaspersky Security Bulletin. This year so far has been very challenging: increased tensions in international relations have had a huge impact on both cyberspa...

The Verizon 2022 DBIR

The Verizon 2022 Data Breach Investigations Report is out. We are proud to collaborate as a supporting contributor to this years data efforts once again and to have contributed for the past 8 years. The report provides interesting analysis of a full amount of global incident data. Several things...

Webinar on cyberattacks in Ukraine – summary and Q&A

About the webinar On March 10, 2022 Kasperskys Global Research and Analysis Team GReAT shared their insights into the current and past cyberattacks in Ukraine. In this post we address the questions that we did not have the time to answer and provide the Indicators of Compromise IoCs that can help...

FIFA public Wi-Fi guide: which host cities have the most secure networks?

We all know how easy it is for users to connect to open Wi-Fi networks in public places. Well, it is equally straightforward for criminals to position themselves near poorly protected access points – where they can intercept network traffic and compromise user data. A lack of essential traffic...

Who’s who in the Zoo

ZooPark is a cyberespionage operation that has been focusing on Middle Eastern targets since at least June 2015. The threat actors behind the operation infect Android devices using several generations of malware, with the attackers including new features in each iteration. We label them from v1-v...

Incident response analyst report 2024

Kaspersky provides rapid and fully informed incident response services to organizations, ensuring impact analysis and effective remediation. Our annual report shares anonymized data about the investigations carried out by the Kaspersky Global Emergency Response Team GERT, as well as statistics an...

Threat landscape for industrial automation systems in Q3 2024

Statistics across all threats In the third quarter of 2024, the percentage of ICS computers on which malicious objects were blocked decreased by 1.5 pp to 22% when compared to the previous quarter. Percentage of ICS computers on which malicious objects were blocked, by quarter, 2022–2024 Compared...

QSC: A multi-plugin framework used by CloudComputating group in cyberespionage campaigns

Introduction In 2021, we began to investigate an attack on the telecom industry in South Asia. During the investigation, we discovered QSC: a multi-plugin malware framework that loads and runs plugins modules in memory. The framework includes a Loader, a Core module, a Network module, a Command...

Exotic SambaSpy is now dancing with Italian users

Introduction In May 2024, we detected a campaign exclusively targeting victims in Italy. We were rather surprised by this, as cybercriminals typically select a broader target to maximize their profits. For example, a certain type of malware might target users in France and Spain, with the phishin...

IT threat evolution in Q1 2024. Non-mobile statistics

IT threat evolution Q1 2024 IT threat evolution Q1 2024. Mobile statistics IT threat evolution Q1 2024. Non-mobile statistics The statistics presented here are based on detection verdicts by Kaspersky products and services received from users who consented to providing statistical data. Quarterly...

Stealers, stealers and more stealers

Introduction Stealers are a prominent threat in the malware landscape. Over the past year we published our research into several stealers see here, here and here, and for now, the trend seems to persist. In the past months, we wrote several private reports on stealers as we discovered Acrid a new...

Threat landscape for industrial automation systems. H2 2023

Global statistics across all threats In the second half of 2023, the percentage of ICS computers on which malicious objects were blocked decreased by 2.1 pp to 31.9%. Percentage of ICS computers on which malicious objects were blocked, by half year Selected industries In H2 2023, building...

Kaspersky Security Bulletin 2023. Statistics

All statistics in this report come from the Kaspersky Security Network KSN global cloud service, which receives information from components in our security solutions. The data was obtained from users who had given their consent to it being sent to KSN. Millions of Kaspersky users around the globe...

LockBit Green and phishing that targets organizations

Introduction In recent months, we published private reports on a broad range of subjects. We wrote about malware targeting Brazil, about CEO fraud attempts, Andariel, LockBit and others. For this post, we selected three private reports, namely those related to LockBit and phishing campaigns...

External attack surface and ongoing cybercriminal activity in APAC region

To prevent a cyberattack, it is vital to know what the attack surface for your organization is. To be prepared to repel the attacks of cybercriminals, businesses around the world collect threat intelligence themselves or subscribe for threat intelligence services. Continuous threat research enabl...

How much does access to corporate infrastructure cost?

Division of labor Money has been and remains the main motivator for cybercriminals. The most widespread techniques of monetizing cyberattacks include selling stolen databases, extortion using ransomware and carding. However, there is demand on the dark web not only for data obtained through an...

PseudoManuscrypt: a mass-scale spyware attack campaign

In June 2021, Kaspersky ICS CERT experts identified malware whose loader has some similarities to the Manuscrypt malware, which is part of the Lazarus APT groups arsenal. In 2020, the group used Manuscrypt in attacks on defense enterprises in different countries. These attacks are described in th...

SAS 2021: Fireside chat with Chris Bing

How to build up a fascinating story from a hardcore APT report? Where to find details and how to work with information sources? Sitting by the virtual fireside, Brian Bartholomew Kaspersky GReAT and Christopher Bing Reuters will discuss how malware researchers and investigative journalists can he...

Bingo, Amigo! Jackpotting: ATM malware from Latin America to the World

Introduction Of all the forms of attack against financial institutions around the world, the one that brings traditional crime and cybercrime together the most is the malicious ecosystem that exists around ATM malware. Criminals from different backgrounds work together with a single goal in mind:...

Kaspersky Security Bulletin: Story of the year 2017

Download the Kaspersky Security Bulletin: Story of the year 2017 Introduction: what we learned in 2017 In 2017, the ransomware threat suddenly and spectacularly evolved. Three unprecedented outbreaks transformed the landscape for ransomware, probably forever. The attacks targeted businesses and...

Exploits and vulnerabilities in Q1 2026

During Q1 2026, the exploit kits leveraged by threat actors to target user systems expanded once again, incorporating new exploits for the Microsoft Office platform, as well as Windows and Linux operating systems. In this report, we dive into the statistics on published vulnerabilities and...

From cheats to exploits: Webrat spreading via GitHub

In early 2025, security researchers uncovered a new malware family named Webrat. Initially, the Trojan targeted regular users by disguising itself as cheats for popular games like Rust, Counter-Strike, and Roblox, or as cracked software. In September, the attackers decided to widen their net:...

State of ransomware in 2025

Global ransomware trends and numbers With the International Anti-Ransomware Day just around the corner on May 12, Kaspersky explores the ever-changing ransomware threat landscape and its implications for cybersecurity. According to Kaspersky Security Network data, the number of ransomware...

Phishing attacks leveraging HTML code inside SVG files

With each passing year, phishing attacks feature more and more elaborate techniques designed to trick users and evade security measures. Attackers employ deceptive URL redirection tactics, such as appending malicious website addresses to seemingly safe links, embed links in PDFs, and send HTML...

Horns&Hooves campaign delivers NetSupport RAT and BurnsRAT

Recent months have seen a surge in mailings with lookalike email attachments in the form of a ZIP archive containing JScript scripts. The script files – disguised as requests and bids from potential customers or partners – bear names such as "Запрос цены и предложения от Индивидуального...

Mandrake spyware sneaks onto Google Play again, flying under the radar for two years

Introduction In May 2020, Bitdefender released a white paper containing a detailed analysis of Mandrake, a sophisticated Android cyber-espionage platform, which had been active in the wild for at least four years. In April 2024, we discovered a suspicious sample that appeared to be a new version ...

Crimeware and financial cyberthreats in 2024

At Kaspersky, we constantly monitor the financial cyberthreat landscape, which includes threats to financial institutions, such as banks, and financially motivated threats, such as ransomware, that target a broader range of industries. As part of our Kaspersky Security Bulletin, we try to predict...

Email crypto phishing scams: stealing from hot and cold crypto wallets

The higher the global popularity of cryptocurrencies and the more new ways of storing them, the wider the arsenal of tools used by malicious actors who are after digital money. Scammers tailor the complexity of technology they use and the thoroughness of their efforts to imitate legitimate websit...

Threat landscape for industrial automation systems for H2 2022

Year 2022 in numbers Parameter | H1 2022 | H2 2022 | 2022 ---|---|---|--- Percentage of attacked ICS computers globally | 31.8% | 34.3% | 40.6% Main threat sources Internet | 16.5% | 19.9% | 24.0% Email clients | 7.0% | 6.4% | 7.9% Removable devices | 3.5% | 3.8% | 5.2% Network folders | 0.6% |...

Consumer cyberthreats: predictions for 2023

The consumer threat landscape constantly changes. Although the main types of threats phishing, scams, malware, etc. remain the same, lures that fraudsters use vary greatly depending on the time of year, current major events, news, etc. This year, we have seen spikes in cybercriminal activity aime...

Malicious WhatsApp mod distributed through legitimate apps

Last year, we wrote about the Triada Trojan inside FMWhatsApp, a modified WhatsApp build. At that time, we discovered that a dropper was found inside the distribution, along with an advertising SDK. This year, the situation has repeated, but with a different modified build, YoWhatsApp version...

Threat landscape for industrial automation systems for H1 2022

H1 2022 in numbers Geography In H1 2022, malicious objects were blocked at least once on 31.8% of ICS computers globally. Percentage of ICS computers on which malicious objects were blocked For the first time in five years of observations, the lowest percentage in the ‎first half of the year was...

Managed detection and response in 2021

Kaspersky Managed Detection and Response MDR helps organizations to complement existing detection capabilities or to expand limited in-house resources to protect their infrastructure from the growing number and complexity of threats in real time. We collect telemetry from clients networks and...

Black Friday 2021: How to Have a Scam-Free Shopping Day

Fact 1: cybercriminals love to exploit big holidays for personal gain. Case in point: were already seeing scams targeting World Cup fans more than a year out from the event. Fact 2: the retail sector, particularly e-commerce, has always been popular with cybercriminals. In Q3 2021, online stores...

How we took part in MLSEC and (almost) won

This summer Kaspersky experts took part in the Machine Learning Security Evasion Competition MLSEC — a series of trials testing contestants ability to create and attack machine learning models. The event is comprised of two main challenges — one for attackers, and the other for defenders. The...

Threat Landscape for Industrial Automation Systems in H1 2017

Kaspersky Lab Industrial Control Systems Cyber Emergency Response Team Kaspersky Lab ICS CERT publishes the results of its research on the threat landscape for industrial automation systems for the first six months of 2017. All statistical data used in this report was collected using the Kaspersk...

Ztorg: from rooting to SMS

I've been monitoring Google Play Store for new Ztorg Trojans since September 2016, and have so far found several dozen new malicious apps. All of them were rooting malware that used exploits to gain root rights on the infected device. Then, in the second half of May 2017 I found one that wasn't...

Divide and conquer: how the new Keenadu backdoor exposed links between major Android botnets

In April 2025, we reported on a then-new iteration of the Triada backdoor that had compromised the firmware of counterfeit Android devices sold across major marketplaces. The malware was deployed to the system partitions and hooked into Zygote – the parent process for all Android apps – to infect...

Threat landscape for industrial automation systems in Q3 2025

Statistics across all threats In Q3 2025, the percentage of ICS computers on which malicious objects were blocked decreased from the previous quarter by 0.4 pp to 20.1%. This is the lowest level for the observed period. Percentage of ICS computers on which malicious objects were blocked, Q3 2022–...

Analysis of the latest Mirai wave exploiting TBK DVR devices with CVE-2024-3721

The abuse of known security flaws to deploy bots on vulnerable systems is a widely recognized problem. Many automated bots constantly search the web for known vulnerabilities in servers and devices connected to the internet, especially those running popular services. These bots often carry Remote...

Russian organizations targeted by backdoor masquerading as secure networking software updates

As we were looking into a cyberincident in April 2025, we uncovered a rather sophisticated backdoor. It targeted various large organizations in Russia, spanning the government, finance, and industrial sectors. While our investigation into the attack associated with the backdoor is still ongoing, ...

TookPS: DeepSeek isn’t the only game in town

In early March, we published a study detailing several malicious campaigns that exploited the popular DeepSeek LLM as a lure. Subsequent telemetry analysis indicated that the TookPS downloader, a malware strain detailed in the article, was not limited to mimicking neural networks. We identified...

StaryDobry ruins New Year’s Eve, delivering miner instead of presents

Introduction On December 31, cybercriminals launched a mass infection campaign, aiming to exploit reduced vigilance and increased torrent traffic during the holiday season. Our telemetry detected the attack, which lasted for a month and affected individuals and businesses by distributing the XMRi...

How “professional” ransomware variants boost cybercrime groups

Introduction Cybercriminals who specialize in ransomware do not always create it themselves. They have many other ways to get their hands on ransomware samples: buying a sample on the dark web, affiliating with other groups or finding a leaked ransomware variant. This requires no extraordinary...

When spear phishing met mass phishing

Introduction Bulk phishing email campaigns tend to target large audiences. They use catch-all wordings and simplistic formatting, and typos are not uncommon. Targeted attacks take greater effort, with attackers sending personalized messages that include personal details and might look more like...

Threat landscape for industrial automation systems. Statistics for H1 2023

Global threat statistics In the first half of 2023, the percentage of ICS computers on which malicious objects were blocked decreased from H2 2022 by just 0.3 pp to 34%. Percentage of ICS computers on which malicious objects were blocked, by half year That said, he percentage of attacked ICS...

How much security is enough?

According to a prominent Soviet science fiction writer, beauty is a fine line, a razors edge between two opposites locked in a never-ending battle. Today, we would put it less poetically as an ideal compromise between contradictions. An elegant, or beautiful, design is one that allows reaching th...

Black Hat USA 2022 and DEF CON 30

Black Hat 2022 USA Briefings wrapped up this past week, along with its sister conference DEF CON 30. The DEF CON theme was a "Hacker Homecoming", and it really was a fun one. Coming back from the COVID hiatus, the conferences were enthusiastically full compared to the 2021 ghost town. Many of the...