Malware Automation

In years past, Ostertag said, hackers would manually attack a network to steal credentials or force their way into the network. Now, he said, hackers are using more malware to do all of these tasks. Beyond making life easier for the attackers, Ostertag said, this new push allows hackers to better "hide in the weeds" of the network without detection. The detection deficit -- the amount of time between compromise and detection -- continues to grow, the report found, reversing a hopeful course forged in 2015 as the deficit began to close.