2020 was an interesting year for the cyber threat landscape. Cyber threats proliferated in every domain and USB security was not left untouched. A report released by Honeywell states that USB threats can severely affect business operations and witnessed a considerable surge with the rise in network connectivity and use of removable media.
Some stats your way
- The report underlines that 79% of cyber threats resulting from USB devices could lead to major business disruption in the OT environment.
- In 2020, 52% of threats were capable of providing remote control or access to threat actors.
- Multi-functional malware pose an increased threat that can directly target 20% of systems and download stage-2 payloads on 9%. Fifty-two percent can be abused to open backdoors, establish direct remote access, and C&C.
Why does it matter?
- USB media are being used to infiltrate air-gapped environments found in OT and industrial environments.
- A new trend observed is the substantial amount of threats that particularly leveraged infected and altered documents.
- The contents of removable media related to OT environments indicate that adversaries are purposely clouting USB removable media. Sophisticated malware samples were found penetrating ICS/OT on removable media.
The bottom line
USB-borne malware has become a serious threat to businesses and is spreading. They are being leveraged as part of wide-scale campaigns against industrial targets. Robust security measures are necessary to defend against rising USB threats.
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