How to Use a Hacker’s Toolkit Against Them

The cyber threat landscape has rapidly evolved over the past few decades. From the Melissa virus wreaking havoc in 1999 through a mass-mail macro, we’ve come a long way to today’s highly targeted and persistent threats. Modern hackers have access to a number of tools (many of which can be accessed legally) which help them make significant financial gains from cybercrime.  

These toolkits essentially democratise cybercrime, making it far easier for non-technical cybercriminals to create and launch sophisticated, targeted attacks. Cybercriminals often specialise in a specific role and sell information that others can use in another stage of an attack.

Egress’ threat researchers have analysed thousands of phishing emails to identify the tactics and tools used. This report contains their findings, covering how to defend against those used in the first three stages of the cyber kill chain: reconnaissance, weaponisation, and delivery.