Employing Zero Trust to Defend Against Backdoor Attacks

Attackers are increasing the number of backdoor attacks they use to spread malware and ransomware, demonstrating that organizations can't trust anyone to protect their endpoints and identities.

According to IBM's 2023 Security X-force Threat Intelligence Index, hackers prioritize these backdoor attacks to blackmail downstream victims whose data has been compromised. Attempts to break through backdoors were the start of his 21% of all intrusion attacks. Two-thirds of backdoor attempts contained a ransomware component.

IBM's X-Force Intelligence team also found a significant increase in backdoor attacks in February and March of last year. This is evidenced by the notable spike in Emotet malware instances. In 2022, the increase was huge, accounting for 47% of all backdoor intrusion attempts worldwide.

Chris Caridi, Cyber Threat Analyst for IBM Security Threat Intelligence, said: “This includes DDoS attacks, data encryption and, more recently, double or triple extortion threats that combine several elements we have seen before.”

Ransomware attackers have taken over organizations that rely on perimeter-based protection. His average time to launch a ransomware attack has halved by 94% over the past two years. In just under four days in 2021, the ransomware attacker was able to complete what took him two months in 2019. The backdoor attack industry is a lucrative field

On the dark web, backdoor access to a company's infrastructure is he one of the most valuable and expensive assets to sell. According to CrowdStrike's 2023 Global Threats Report, access brokers continue to build a robust industry selling stolen names and credentials to ransomware attackers in bulk. Government, financial services, industry, and engineering organizations had the highest average price for access requests, according to CrowdStrike's highly regarded intelligence team.

Entry into the government sector cost an average of $6,151, while entry into the academic sector cost an average of $3,827. In the 2023 Index, the IBM team wrote: Hits have been known to reach $2,000 to $4,000 and even $50,000 in some cases.

damage control tips

Use antivirus:
Use advanced antivirus software that can detect and stop various viruses such as Trojans, cryptojackers, spyware, rootkits, etc. Antivirus detects and removes backdoor malware before it infects your computer. To keep you as safe as possible online, good antivirus software like Norton 360 also includes technologies like WiFi monitoring, powerful firewalls, web protection, and microphone and camera privacy monitoring.

Use Firewall:
A firewall that monitors all traffic in and out of your device is critical to protect against backdoors. A firewall prevents unauthorized users from accessing your smartphone and blocks apps on your device from attempting to send data to unverified network locations.

Advanced firewalls can spot unauthorized backdoor communications even after your device's malware detection has been fooled. The firewalls built into Windows and macOS are both good, but they fall short. There are several antivirus software packages with effective firewalls (McAfee offers excellent network security). You can also consider getting a smart firewall, which is physical hardware that connects to your router.

Use a good password manager: Password managers create, store, and even let you automatically log into all of your accounts' login credentials. Using 256-bit AES encryption, all of this data is safely secured and protected by a master password. The security of your password vault can even be increased by employing biometric login or 2FA technologies like TOTP generators and USB tokens, according to advanced password managers like Dashlane. Password managers make it far more difficult for hackers to break into your network or spread throughout your network in the case that a backdoor is placed on your system since they create random, complex passwords.​