The rise in the use of this dangerous botnet, notorious for distributing malware via phishing campaigns and responsible for fueling Sextortion scams, should put organizations on edge.
The bad guys certainly believe the notion “why let a good botnet go to waste.” According to security researchers at CheckPoint, the Phorpiex botnet – which first reared its ugly head back in 2018 appears to be experiencing a resurgence in interest last month. Estimated to have generated a half million dollars in revenue in 2019, Phorpiex has traditionally distributed ransomware, cryptominers, and malware to accomplish this.
According to CheckPoint, Phorpiex ranked second in global reach last month, affecting 2% of organizations globally, and even made their Top 10 malware families list for June.
Phorpiex has mostly bounced back and forth between ransomware and sextortion over its 2 years in existence, but according to CheckPoint, this latest surge is focused once again on spreading ransomware.
With ransomware attacks, the best strategy is preventative – stopping these attacks from ever successfully launching within your environment is best. Because Phorpiex is using phishing as its initial attack vector, teaching users to be mindful of suspicious email links and attachments via Security Awareness Training will be most impactful.
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