Lesser Skilled Cybercriminals Adopt Nation-State Hacking Methods by Jai Vijayan.
From this long prose ad for CrowdStrike:
Relatively unskilled, criminally motivated hackers are increasingly adopting the tactics, techniques and procedures (TTPs) typically used by more sophisticated nation-stated backed adversaries.
New analysis by security vendor CrowdStrike’s Falcon OverWatch threat-hunting team of intrusion detection engagements at customer locations between January and June this year shows a continued blurring of lines between methods employed by criminals and known nation-state actors.
This trend spells trouble for enterprises because it means that no one is really safe from sophisticated attacks, says Jennifer Ayers, vice president of CrowdStrike’s OverWatch and security response team. “Sophisticated techniques are becoming a little more commoditized,” she says. “Anything goes. Anyone can be a target.”
One example is cybercriminals increasingly using TeamViewer software to gain remote access to targets. TeamViewer is a legitimate tool for connecting to remote computers for desktop sharing and collaboration and enabling remote support, among other uses.
…
In addition to being gratuitiously ugly to hackers who use tools developed by others, Vijayan includes CrowdStrike attributed remarks about Russian hackers, of course.
When you have no evidence to present, throw off on the Russians. At least this season. Not so long ago it was those masterminds of everything digital, the North Koreans. Then the Chinese, or is it now the Chinese?
Check with the ministry of truth, sorry, Department of Homeland Security to see who the current “enemy” and greatest cyberthreat is today. It changes.
You are very unlikely to have written your own compiler, debugger, or other tools you use in cybersecurity. Building on the work of others, even nation-states, carries no shame.
By analogy, you could claim people are “lesser skilled” drivers because they didn’t assemble their own cars. Try that in a bar and watch other patrons start to edge away from you. Keep it up long enough and you will have public accomodations for the night (jail).
Find, use, build upon and share any “…tactics, techniques and procedures (TTPs)…” that you find, nation-state or otherwise.
So will I.