50,000 New Malware Are Being Detected Every Day
If you haven’t renewed your antivirus lately this might be a good time to do so. Most users are aware that there are new kinds of malware being created all the time, but did you know how many of them are being detected every day?
According to Emsisoft, an anti-malware company, they’re registering from 30,000 to 50,000 new malware on their database on a daily basis. That’s a very concerning number, to say the least.
How is this possible? Well, not every malware takes the same amount of time to develop. The most basic computer viruses can be created in just about 60 seconds, while others can take months to be completed, which are usually the most dangerous ones.
Despite the different levels of threats, one thing remains the same for every malware: they’re trying to capitalize on the latest trends at the users’ expense. Because of that, it’s important to stay up to date with them to avoid being one of their victims.
Let’s take a look at the malware trends that took place in 2019.
What’s been Trending?
Emsisoft wasn’t the only company that noticed a significant change in their malware stats. According to Kaspersky, the number of unique malicious objects detected had an increase of 14% in 2019 compared to 2018, reaching almost 24 million.
The biggest trend throughout this year was the rise of web skimmer files. Web skimming is a practice where hackers use malicious codes to compromise an organization’s website in order to commit fraud. These codes are designed to stay hidden and steal their customers' credit card information as they are entered into the site during payment. Neither the company nor the customer notices the theft while it happens, making it one of the most dangerous forms of malware out there.
Earlier this year, the airline company British Airways was targeted by web skimming malware resulting in a data breach of their global customers. In consequence, they received a $228 Million Penalty for damages, the biggest regulatory fine of its kind.
On the other hand, we saw a decrease in certain trends like the presence of hidden web miners which dropped by more than half. Web miners are programs that generate cryptocurrency on users’ computers without their consent, but it seems that this trend is starting to lose steam as the number of victims dropped by 59% from 5 million to 2 million.
“The volume of online attacks has been growing for years, but in 2019 we saw a clear shift from certain types of attacks that are becoming ineffective, to the ones focused on gaining clear profit from users.” — Vyacheslav Zakorzhevsky, Head of Anti-Malware Research at Kaspersky.
How can we explain this shift? It’s very simple, cybercriminals move towards the money. Miners have been losing profitability because users are becoming more aware of how to avoid these threats so naturally, they are seeking new ways to target their victims. Web skimming malware is more sophisticated and takes longer to develop, but their concerning results are undeniable. This is a sign that their trend is likely to continue unless companies and users find a better solution against them.
What’s the Solution?
As you can see, the threats of malware keep increasing while they adapt to the trends. Most of the new additions that are being detected every day are not as dangerous or complex as web skimming, but it only takes one malware infection to do some serious damage. For that reason, your digital security shouldn’t be taken lightly.
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For every malware that’s created, there should be double the users protecting their computers. Let’s make that into a reality!
