The cyberwar over who will control your PC and the data on it has been dragging on for literally decades, with no end in sight. Malware is big business. It isn’t about just wreaking havoc for the heck of it anymore – it’s about monetization: incorporating your system into a botnet that can then be rented out on the Dark Web, stealing your identity and sensitive financial information, or encrypting your data and holding it for ransom. This latter version, so-called “ransomware,” rakes in tens of millions of dollars annually from its victims, and, as we’ve stated previously, has proven to be one of the most challenging forms of malware to protect against.
These days, you don’t even have to write the malware code yourself – there are cybercriminals who offer ransomware as a service. You can rent access to their CryptoLocker executable for $50, which gives you access to tools that allow you to configure how much money you want to demand from the victim, and specify the Bitcoin wallet the money should go to. They keep 10% of the ransom amount as their service fee and you get the rest. Other cybercriminals offer access to on-line “crypter” tools for as little as $30/month that will automatically test your malware code against the latest signature files of all the leading antivirus vendors, and automatically modify the code until it passes. Some malware can even detect when an attempt is made to run it in a virtualized “sandbox,” and conceal its intent by not executing any malicious processes.
Clearly, traditional anti-malware tools that rely on signature analysis, heuristics, hash values, and sandbox execution are valuable, but no longer sufficient to protect our systems and data. We’ve fallen back on a defense-in-depth strategy of multiple layers of protection, which decreases the odds of infection, but still doesn’t eliminate the possibility. There’s got to be a better way, and we’ve been looking long and hard to find it.
I’m happy to say that we believe we’ve found that better way: CylancePROTECT. Cylance doesn’t rely on signature databases, or heuristics, or hash values, or sandboxes. It relies on math, machine learning, and artificial intelligence to block even malware and ransomware it has never seen before. With over 300,000 new malware samples being discovered every day, that’s pretty important. But don’t just take our word for it. Take a look at the video below. Then jump out to YouTube, search on “Cylance,” and watch some of the other demo videos. Then contact us for a demo or evaluation to see what CylancePROTECT can do for you.
