Ani Petrosyan
Research expert for cybersecurity and cybercrime
State of malware worldwide - Statistics & Facts
Malware, or malicious software, is designed to take charge or disrupt its victim's computer infrastructure. By posing as harmless files or links, these programs trick users into downloading them – thus allowing foreign access not only to the victim's computer but to the entire network within an organization. In 2023, 6.06 billion malware attacks were detected worldwide, most of which occurred in the Asia-Pacific region. Among the most frequently blocked types of malware attacks were worms, viruses, ransomware, trojans, and backdoor. Between the two main attack vectors, e-mail and websites, the latter was used more often for phishing attacks.
The main tendency observed is that even though the number of malware attacks has decreased, new threat variants continue to emerge. This means, that the impact of these attacks can still be as prevalent as with high number of attacks. This, once again, means that cybersecurity strategies have to be often updated and chasing after newly discovered threats.
Industries most targeted by malware attacks
When it comes to the most attacked industry sectors by cybercriminals, it highly depends on the organizations' vulnerability and the amount of data they possess. Usually, threat actors target manufacturing, finance, professional, and healthcare industries. However, institutions in the education sector are the new big target of threat actors In 2023, the education sector encountered the highest average weekly number of cyberattacks in the same year. Additionally, malware attacks on insurance companies have seen the most significant spike among overall sectors.Mobile malware
In the third quarter of 2023, about 440,000 malicious packages were detected on mobile devices worldwide. An uptick in this number happened in the fourth quarter of 2020 when more than 2.1 million mobile malware installation packages were found. AdWare was the most common type of mobile malware in the third quarter of 2023. North America encountered the most mobile phishing attacks compared to other regions.Ransomware as a primary threat
Despite a slight decrease in the past few years, ransomware attacks are still a significant threat to organizations. In 2023, Singapore ranked first worldwide by the share of organizations experiencing ransomware attacks. In the meantime, LockBit was the most detected ransomware family worldwide. In addition, new ransomware families are being discovered each year. Ransomware attacks are known to target the most critical industries, such as healthcare, manufacturing, and government facilities. Exploited vulnerability was the most common root cause of ransomware attacks.State of cybersecurity
Malware protection is a complex process requiring the input of every party involved. Besides implementing various software solutions, it is also important to constantly train employees and raise awareness among them. One of the indicators of a successful cybersecurity strategy is making proper investments. In 2023, Japan and Brazil had the highest share of organizations with adequate cybersecurity investments, and Japan also featured the highest share of organizations where cybersecurity was a priority.The main tendency observed is that even though the number of malware attacks has decreased, new threat variants continue to emerge. This means, that the impact of these attacks can still be as prevalent as with high number of attacks. This, once again, means that cybersecurity strategies have to be often updated and chasing after newly discovered threats.
Ani Petrosyan
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Aug 7, 2024
Ani Petrosyan
Research expert for cybersecurity and cybercrime
