Malware increased by 358% in 2020

A research study conducted by Deep Instinct reports on the hundreds of millions of attempted cyberattacks that occurred every day throughout 2020 showing malware increased by 358% overall and ransomware increased by 435% as compared with 2019.

malware 2020

Report highlights

  • Distribution of Emotet malware skyrocketed in 2020 by 4,000%.
  • Malware threats attacking Android phones increased by 263%.
  • The month of July had the largest increase in malicious activity by 653% compared with the previous year.
  • Microsoft Office documents were the most manipulated document attack vector and went up by 112%.

“We’ve seen the pandemic accelerate companies’ business transformations to conducting business online while the abrupt switch to the work-from-home model widened organizations’ attack surface. It’s no wonder that security teams have difficulty keeping up with the onslaught of attacks of every different type,” said Guy Caspi, CEO of Deep Instinct.

“And the problem is not limited to the sheer volume of attacks, our study shows that the sophistication of attacks has grown with advanced evasive tactics that make detection much more difficult.”

Double extortion tactics, the new standard

If it were even possible, ransomware became an even bigger threat in 2020 with the potential for a large profit.

Double extortion tactics became the new standard in ransomware, with the threat of data not only being encrypted, but also exposed posing a major threat to organizational security and protection. For this reason, the report recommends that companies take a proactive stance to shield themselves from infection by deploying solutions that focus on prevention.

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