Digitally Signed Malware Risk on the Rise, Kaspersky Finds - Search Security

Search Security, By Michael Heller

Kaspersky reports digitally signed malware -- malicious files using legitimate digital certificates -- is a growing threat to enterprises, increasing four-fold in the past six years.

Files signed with a digital certificate are often assumed to be secure by Web browsers and antivirus scanners, but according to Kaspersky Lab Inc., digital certificates are increasingly being used by attackers to slip malware into enterprises.

In new research released this week, Andrey Ladikov, head of strategic research at Kaspersky Lab, said that the number of legitimately obtained certificates embedded in malware has risen steadily every year since 2008, escalating from 1,500 known cases of digitally signed malware to more than 6,000 in 2014.

Protecting a company's digital certificates

Ladikov said that the mathematical methods used to sign a file are still reliable and hard to compromise, but detailed the various ways cybercriminals obtain valid digital certificates and apply them to malware. Read more.