Multi-vector, polymorphic attacks

Surfacing in 2017, a new class of multi-vector, polymorphic cyber threats combined several types of attacks and changed form to avoid cyber security controls as they spread.

It’s easy to be dismissive about hackneyed axioms like “a chain is only as strong as its weakest link,” but today’s threat landscape is placing a fresh—and highly destructive—emphasis on the principle underpinning that time-worn motto. It’s a safe bet that any MSP or in-house IT professional who underestimates the need to eliminate every vulnerability in their endpoint security chain—to all potential attack vectors—will eventually pay the price for that inaction.

That’s particularly true when the bad guys employ multiple attack vectors. In a multi-vector attack, cybercriminals combine a range of threats deployed at numerous stages, across multiple points of entry (attack vectors) to infect computers and networks. This blended approach greatly increases the likelihood of their success and the speed of contagion and severity of damage.

To effectively combat these multi-vector attacks, endpoint protection solutions need to incorporate a multi-vector strategy that may be broken down into three fundamental steps:

1. Predict and prevent the attack and from being infected in the first place
2. If you cannot predict or prevent, then detect and identify it accurately
3. Then, ensure you are able to contain it and re-mediate it

This approach is ideal because it provides multiple chances at multiple attack stages to block or stop a threat before an infection can succeed.

Attack Vector Stage: How Threat Enters Your Environment

Superior endpoint security solutions incorporate an extensive range of tools to combat threats from a variety of sources:

• Email, web browsers, display ads, hyper-links, files, social media apps, external devices (e.g., USB drives or web cams)

Webroot Multi-Vector Prevention Shields:

• Web Threat Shield, Identity Shield, USB Shield, Infrared Shield, Smart Firewall

Payload Delivery Stage: What Form Threat Takes

Cyber attacks can come in many different forms, and an effective endpoint protection solution must have the resources to address them all:

• Adware, spyware, ransomware, phishing attacks, keyloggers, viruses, Trojans, worms, rootkits

Webroot Multi-Vector Detection Shields:

• Self-Protection Shield, Real-Time Anti-Phishing, Real-Time System Shield, Offline Shield, Rootkit Shield

Infection Remediation Stage: How Threat Can Be Neutralized

No AV vendor can prevent all infections instantly, so it’s critical that Remediation is easy, fast and complete:

Webroot Multi-Vector Remediation Shields:

• Zero-Day Shield, Behaviour Shield, Core System Shield, Monitoring & Journaling, Quarantine, Auto-Remediation