Netskope Threat Labs Report: HEALTHCARE 2024

Cloud App Adoption: Although Microsoft OneDrive is the most popular app in the healthcare sector, its popularity lags behind that of other industries. The popularity of other Microsoft products was mixed, with SharePoint similarly lagging other industries but Teams leading other industries.

Cloud App Abuse: Microsoft OneDrive was also the most popular app for malware downloads but lagged behind other industries, underscoring that successful malware delivery depends on both adversary tactics and user behavior.

Malware & Ransomware: Among the most prevalent malware families targeting victims in healthcare were the remote access Trojan NjRat, the botnet Amaday, and the infostealer Azorult.

The average user in the healthcare sector interacts with an average of 22 cloud apps per month. The top 1% of users interacted with 94 apps per month, the highest number of all industries.

Users in the healthcare sector downloaded data from cloud apps at almost the same rate as other industries, with 96% of users downloading data from cloud apps in the healthcare sector versus 94% in other industries. On the other hand, users in healthcare uploaded data at a much lower rate compared to other industries, with 55% of healthcare users uploading data while other industries averaged 68%.

This list contains the top 10 malware and ransomware families detected by Netskope targeting users in the healthcare sector in the last 12 months:

• Backdoor.Zusy (a.k.a. TinyBanker) is a banking Trojan based on the source code of Zeus, aiming to steal personal information via code injection into websites.
• Botnet.Amadey is a botnet that appeared around October 2018 and has been sold in Russian-speaking hacking forums. The malware can collect information from infected computers and send them to the C2 server. It can also receive tasks to be executed by the botnet.
• Botnet.Mirai is one of the most famous botnets targeting exposed networking devices running Linux. Discovered in 2016, this malware has been targeting a wide range of devices such as routers, cameras, and other IoT devices. Since its source code leak, the number of variants of this malware has increased considerably.
• Infostealer.Azorult (a.k.a. PuffStealer) is a malware that aims to steal sensitive information such as account passwords.
• Phishing.PhishingX is a malicious PDF file used as part of a phishing campaign to redirect victims to a phishing page.
• RAT.ComRAT is a second-stage implant used by the Turla threat group. The first version of ComRAT was identified in 2007. The malware can send information to the attacker and receive commands to be executed.
• RAT.NetWiredRC (a.k.a. NetWire RC) is a malware associated with APT33, aimed at providing remote access and stealing sensitive information, like passwords.
• RAT.NjRAT (a.k.a. Bladabindi) is a remote access trojan with many capabilities, including logging keystrokes, stealing credentials from browsers, accessing the victim’s camera, and managing files.
• Trojan.Ursnif (a.k.a. Gozi) is a banking Trojan and backdoor, whose source code was leaked on GitHub in 2005, allowing attackers to create and distribute many variants.
• Trojan.Valyria (a.k.a. POWERSTATS) is a family of malicious Microsoft Office documents that contain embedded malicious VBScripts, usually to deliver other malicious payloads.

This report highlighted increasing cloud adoption, including increased data uploaded to and downloaded from various cloud apps. It also highlighted an increasing trend of attackers abusing various cloud apps, especially popular enterprise apps, to deliver malware (mostly Trojans) to their victims. Netskope Threat Labs recommends organizations in the healthcare sector review their security posture to ensure that they are adequately protected against these trends:

• Inspect all HTTP and HTTPS downloads, including all web and cloud traffic, to prevent malware from infiltrating your network. Netskope customers can configure their Netskope NG-SWG with a Threat Protection policy that applies to downloads from all categories and applies to all file types.
• Ensure that high-risk file types like executables and archives are thoroughly inspected using a combination of static and dynamic analysis before being downloaded. Netskope Advanced Threat Protection customers can use a Patient Zero Prevention Policy to hold downloads until they have been fully inspected.
• Configure policies to block downloads from apps and instances that are not used in your organization to reduce your risk surface to only those apps and instances that are necessary for the business.
• Configure policies to block uploads to apps and instances that are not used in your organization to reduce the risk of accidental or deliberate data exposure from insiders or abuse by attackers.
• Use an Intrusion Prevention System (IPS) that can identify and block malicious traffic patterns, such as command and control traffic associated with popular malware. Blocking this type of communication can prevent further damage by limiting the attacker’s ability to perform additional actions.
• Use Remote Browser Isolation (RBI) technology to provide additional protection when there is a need to visit websites that fall into categories that can present higher risk, like newly observed and newly registered domains.

Staffed by the industry’s foremost cloud threat and malware researchers, Netskope Threat Labs discovers, analyzes, and designs defenses against the latest cloud threats affecting enterprises. Our researchers are regular presenters and volunteers at top security conferences, including DefCon, BlackHat, and RSA.

Netskope provides threat protection to millions of users worldwide. Information presented in this report is based on anonymized usage data collected by the Netskope Security Cloud platform relating to a subset of Netskope customers with prior authorization.

This report contains information about detections raised by Netskope’s Next Generation Secure Web Gateway (NG-SWG), not considering the significance of the impact of each individual threat. Stats in this report are based on the period starting March 1, 2023 through February 27, 2024. Stats are a reflection of attacker tactics, user behavior, and organization policy.