14 DAY TRIAL // Network security solutions provider Palo Alto Networks has released its first Modern Malware Review, a report that analyzes the complete lifecycle of unknown pieces of malware.
According to the review, 94% of the threats that enter networks without being detected by traditional antivirus solutions are delivered via web browsing or web proxies.
Besides the real-time applications, FTP is also an effective way to push malware onto a network. The figures show that 95% of the malware delivered via FTP remains undetected for over 30 days.
The review also shows that modern malware uses 30 different techniques to evade being detected.
Interestingly, 40% of apparently unique pieces of malware are actually repackaged versions of the same code, and 70% of the malicious elements leave identifiers in their payload or in their traffic that can be used by security teams to detect them.
“It's not enough to simply detect malware out there that is evading traditional security. Enterprises should come to expect more comprehensive prevention from their vendors,” noted Wade Williamson, senior research analyst, Palo Alto Networks.
“That's what the Modern Malware Review is signaling – analyzing undetected malware in real networks has enabled us to arm IT security teams with actionable information for reducing their exposure against threats they might have otherwise missed.”
In addition to reviewing the behavior of modern malware, the report also makes some recommendations that can help security managers protect their networks against such threats.
“Security managers are bombarded almost daily with alerts about the latest malware threats, and manually examining each threat to develop policy to stop it would overwhelm any security team,” said Phil Cummings, security administrator, Health Information Technology Services of Nova Scotia.
“Reports like Palo Alto Networks' Modern Malware Review provide the kind of real-world data and actionable policy recommendations that make my job easier.”
The complete report is available here.