Sophisticated Malware
| 1. Sophisticated malware attacks refers to the deployment of customised malware onto specific target organisations, rendering their security solutions ineffective.
Notes (1): They are very difficult to detect and they put a strain on an organization’s ability to manage the attack, whose security controls usually can effectively handle the less sophisticated malware attacks.
Related Term: Malware
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2. Sophisticated malware attacks are best defined as those situations involving anti-virus and other security solutions that are rendered ineffective due to custom written, and often specially purposed malware deployed by threat actors. Sophisticated malware incidents typically take longer to detect, and tend to challenge the most mature organizations whose security controls effectively handle the simpler and well-known malware attacks. As can be expected, sophisticated malware tends to occur more commonly with targeted attacks. While sophisticated malware is found in a smaller percentage of the breaches in our entire data set, it is present in a significant portion of our investigations. Because of this, we consider sophisticated malware as a lethal data breach scenario.
Source: (Verizon, 2016)
3. With the efforts made to enhance security through segregation and defense-in-depth principles, threat actor activities have become increasingly complex. Enter sophisticated malware. In some operations, threat actors increase their sophistication through malware to achieve their goals.
Source: (Verizon, 2017)