“Malware Free” Attacks on the Rise

In 44% of cyberattack incidents, attackers tend to deploy malware. However, in the remaining 56% of events, scripting frameworks (like PowerShell) and remote monitoring and management (RMM) software were used along with "living off the land" binaries (LOLBins).

The increased use of RMM software has turned out to be a concerning trend that is challenging to reverse.

“At the SMB level, LOLBin use is especially concerning given the state of monitoring and review for many organizations. Many critical entities—from local school districts to medical offices—may find themselves at best leveraged for cryptomining or botnet purposes, and at worst, the victims of disruptive ransomware,” the researchers noted.

The researchers notes that in over 65% of security incidents, threat actors utilize RMM software as their methods for persistence or remote access mechanisms following the initial access to the victim user's system.

Since RMM tools are largely used as legitimate software, in case they are used for any intrusion purpose, they can readily evade anti-malware security and blend in with the environment when employed for infiltration purposes. Additionally, few small businesses audit the use of RMM tools.

“In some cases, Huntress has observed adversaries diversifying among several RMM tools, such as using a combination of commercial and open-source items, to ensure redundant access to victim environments,” the researchers noted. “Therefore, monitoring RMM tool use and deployment within defended or managed environments is an increasingly important security hygiene measure to ensure owners and operators can identify potential malicious installations.”

Additional Findings

Affiliates of ransomware and operators of business email compromise (BEC) persist in their targeting of end users through the use of phishing.

Notably, malicious forwarding or other inbox rules were engaged in 64% of identity-focused assaults that SMBs faced in Q3 2023, while logins from strange or suspect places were linked to 24% of these attacks.

“While the ultimate goal of such activity remains, in most cases, BEC, defensive visibility and adversary kill-chain dependencies mean these actions are largely caught at the account takeover (ATO) phase of operations,” the experts concluded.

In 2023, Qakbot-related cybersecurity incidents have declined, with this downward trend anticipated to continue.

The findings further note that 60% of ransomware incidents were caused by uncategorized, unknown or "defunct" ransomware strains. This demonstrates a variation in the kind of ransomware frequently observed in corporate settings, where "known-variant ransomware deployments" are the primary target.

“Whether for monetization purposes through ransomware or BEC, or potentially even state-directed espionage activity, SMBs remain at risk from a variety of entities,” the researchers added. 

The researchers further raised concerns towards the adversaries that are exploiting the gaps in  users’ visibility and awareness over evading security controls. While spam filtering and a solid anti-malware program used to be enough for a small business to "get by," the current threat landscape makes these straightforward efforts inadequate.