The Top Vector for Malware Distribution
The very same report that brought us the above mentioned stats also concluded that email remains the top medium for the distribution of malware and phishing programs. Email fraud was also found to be the biggest source of problems for businesses and is continuing to grow rapidly.
Ransomware Removal Problems on the Decrease
In the period between Q2 and Q4 of 2018, ransomware removal companies found that the problem had dropped significantly while other threat actors were on the rise. According to the ‘Risky Business Podcast’, ransomware problems seem to have evaporated from the business landscape. The podcast continued to say that this was probably due to the reason that victims were generally not acquainted to cryptocurrency. Crypto-miners are also on the rise, alongside commodity RATs, commodity banking Trojans, and keyloggers.
Banking Trojan with Crypto-Miners
Banking Trojans, in this report, were found to be a common problem in the Q4 of 2018. These crypto-miners are bolted onto banking Trojans and are used to steal money from bank accounts. This simple process actually works much better as opposed to seemingly historic ransomware, which is probably why cyber-criminals can be seen shifting their focus.
Ransomware, on the other hand, requires a certain amount of technical literacy in victims in order to successfully reach to payment terms. Once this will be a commonality amongst victims, then it may actually make its way back as the evil cousin of Trojan.
The Success Rate of Banking Trojans
In the Q4 2018, it was found that downloads containing banking Trojans amounted to about 90% of all malware attacks. One problem in particular was the Emotet banking Trojan, which even got titled as the most destructive and costly malware. This is because of its widespread effects over public and private sectors, territorial governments, and local or tribal states.
That being said, ransomware has and will remain as an unavoidable factor in overall risk management in business. The hysteria around it, however, seems to be fading away.
