Radware Series III Hacker’s Almanac

Radware invites you to read our newly released field guide that offers guidance on using actionable threat intelligence to anticipate and respond to cyber aggressions.

The Series III Hacker’s Almanac is the final instalment in the three-part series that focuses on threat intelligence and cyber defense. It’s designed as a field guide for security analysts, professionals, and executive decision-makers to enable them to better practice, anticipate, detect, and respond to future cyber aggressions.

“Understanding the threat landscape is one thing. Extracting and leveraging actionable intelligence to reinforce an organization’s defensive posture is another,” said Pascal Geenens, director of threat intelligence at Radware. “Threat intelligence empowers organizations by providing them with the knowledge and visibility needed to make well-informed decisions about their security defenses and respond faster to current and evolving threats.”

A copy of Series III of the Hacker’s Almanac can be obtained here.

Series III – Intelligence and Defense: Radware Hacker’s Almanac outlines each phase of the threat intelligence lifecycle and explains how it can be used to help organizations improve their knowledge base and increase visibility across their threat surface and the global threat landscape.

Demonstrates how to apply vetted intelligence from various types of internal and external sources, including telemetry, malware analysis, web monitoring tools, government agencies, and the security community.

Offers details on cyber defense and how to achieve an improved security posture through actionable intelligence and defensive strategies.

“There is no silver bullet or single path to a strong security posture,” said Geenens. “And no shield is impenetrable. However, organizations that stay vigilant, shore up defenses, and create a healthy threat intelligence program will be better prepared to respond and maintain business operations when the inevitable happens.”

Series II – Tactics, Techniques and Procedures: Radware Hacker’s Almanac describes tactics and techniques, ranging from the reconnaissance conducted to begin an operation and the initial access required to gain a foothold in a victim’s network, to the execution of the attack, defense evasion strategies, and exfiltration. It gives examples of real-world attacks that targeted supply chains, critical infrastructures, IOT devices, financial assets, and more. And it goes into detail on how bots, DDoS attacks, credential stuffing, router hijacking, and other techniques and extortion tactics are used to exploit their victims.

The Hacker’s Almanac series serves as a cornerstone for helping organizations understand:

• The threat landscape.
• Why they might be at risk.
• Their attack surface.
• How attackers can target an environment.

“If there was one word to capture what organizations should expect from cybercrime in 2022, it would be ‘more,'” said Geenens. “More sophisticated, high intensity attacks. Smarter attackers with larger budgets. Increased pressure on supply chains and critical infrastructures. And bigger, bolder extortion threats. In short, the security community will have to be more vigilant than ever before, and organizations will need to make considerable efforts to keep their attack surfaces under control. The last two years ushered in a new dawn for cybercrime and info security, and it’s not going away anytime soon.” Released earlier this year, Series I of the Hacker’s Almanac offers an overview of current threat actors.

A copy of Series II of the Hacker’s Almanac can be obtained here.

Series I – The Threat Actors: Radware Hacker’s Almanac describes Threats from Nation States, Organized Crime, Hacktivists, Hackers and Disgruntled Insiders/Customers

Preparing for the next generation of cyber-attacks requires organizations to stay ahead of the threat landscape. Radware’s Hackers Almanac is designed to address this challenge by, in Part I, generating awareness about current threat actors.

Part One Key Topics include:

Nation States: This section provides an overview of six important nation-state groups and examples of recent operations that underscore their objectives, typical targets and initial access tactics.

Organized Crime: This section delves into the latest regarding various underground “cyberattack-as-a-services,” industrial espionage, financially motivated groups behind the recent waves of ransom DDoS attacks and more.

Hacktivists: Through examples of recent operations, this section highlights the likely motivations that hacktivists have launching their assaults.

Hackers: Classifying hackers can be complex, with actors occupying multiple threat groups at the same time. This section attempts to define the difference between black, white and gray hackers.

Disgruntled Insiders and Customers: This section provides examples of how attacks performed under an intense emotional state can result in serious damage, and why this class typically relies on cybercrime-as-a-service to conduct their actual attacks.

A copy of this report can be obtained here.

We invite you to Get in Touch to discuss your security strategy objectives.

Pascal Geenens: Director, Threat Intelligence - Radware

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Pascal is the Director of Threat Intelligence for Radware and is responsible for the organization's global threat intelligence program that aims at educating and informing about imminent and long-term threats. He helps execute the company's thought leadership on today's threat landscape, leveraging over 25 years of experience in different aspects of information Security and Technology.

Besides editing reports and running a monthly threat research live stream on YouTube, Pascal likes to code and research new threats. He discovered BrickerBot, Demonbot, JenX and extensively researched Hajime and Mozi. Pascal holds an MSc degree in Electrical Engineering, Communication and Information Technology and is based in Belgium.

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