Threats using SSL encryption are on the rise. An average of 60 percent of the transactions in the Zscaler cloud have been delivered over SSL/TLS. Researchers also found that the Zscaler cloud saw an average of 8.4 million SSL/TLS-based security blocks per day this year.
“Hackers are increasingly using SSL to conceal device infections, shroud data exfiltration and hide botnet command and control communications. In fact, our study found that the amount of phishing attempts per day delivered over SSL/TLS has increased 400 percent from 2016,” said Deepen Desai, senior director, security research and operations.
The amount of malicious content being delivered over SSL/TLS has more than doubled in the last six months.
The Zscaler cloud blocked an average of 12,000 phishing attempts per day delivered over SSL/TLS—an increase of 400 percent from 2016.
New, increasingly sophisticated malware strains use SSL to encrypt their C&C mechanisms.
Zscaler saw an average of 300 hits per day for web exploits that included SSL as part of the infection chain.
The most prevalent malware family leveraging SSL-based callbacks was Dridex/Emotet, which contributed 34 percent of the total unique, new payloads in 2017.
