What is driving the rise of infostealer malware? | Computer Weekly

"Cyber criminals would much rather log in than hack in. That's why infostealer malware, designed to exfiltrate user credentials, browser data, messages, documents, images, and device information, is becoming more widespread. Stealing sensitive information opens a lot of doors for cyber criminals. They can log in using the stolen credentials and bypass multi-factor authentication with hijacked session cookies. They can take over accounts, commit fraud, craft better phishing campaigns, or simply sell the data to the highest bidder on the dark web."

"Socura and Flare recently analysed the digital footprint of the UK's biggest companies, looking for stolen credentials across the clear and dark web. In total, we discovered 28,000 instances of stolen FTSE 100 employee credentials that had been leaked in infostealer logs. We also found cookies that were valid for several years, giving attackers another way to log in and bypass security controls like MFA."

Infostealer malware exfiltrates user credentials, browser data, messages, documents, images, and device information to enable unauthorized access and exploitation. Stolen credentials and hijacked session cookies allow attackers to log in, bypass multi-factor authentication, take over accounts, commit fraud, improve phishing campaigns, or sell data on the dark web. Lax security policies and blurred boundaries between corporate and personal IT create conditions for infostealer attacks to thrive. Analysis of major UK companies revealed 28,000 instances of leaked FTSE 100 employee credentials and multi-year valid cookies, demonstrating that even well-resourced organisations remain vulnerable and smaller businesses face similar risks.

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