Cyber Warfare: Report on 2020 Shows Triple-Digit Increases Across All Malware Types

Hundreds of millions of cyber-attacks include ransomware, spyware, backdoors, droppers, according to report from Deep Instinct

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--A research study conducted by cybersecurity company, Deep Instinct, reports on the hundreds of millions of attempted cyber-attacks that occurred every day throughout 2020 showing malware increased by 358% overall and ransomware increased by 435% as compared with 2019.

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, co-founder and 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.”

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.

Deep Instinct’s “2020 Cyber Threat Landscape Report” includes an analysis of the latest malware trends and developments, insights on the past year’s cyber threat landscape, and predictions for this year, all based on empirical research findings. A full copy of the 31-page “2020 Cyber Threat Landscape Report” is available. In addition, anyone interested can join a live webinar “The Pandemic and its Manipulation by the Cyber Underworld” scheduled on Tuesday, February 23 at 1 pm Eastern. Featuring the Deep Instinct security intelligence researchers who contributed to the study, participants will also have an opportunity to ask questions on the report findings.

About Deep Instinct

Deep Instinct is the first and only company applying end-to-end deep learning to cybersecurity. Deep learning is inspired by the brain’s ability to learn. Once a brain learns to identify an object, its identification becomes second nature. Similarly, as Deep Instinct’s artificial deep neural network brain learns to prevent any type of cyber threat, its prediction capabilities become instinctive. As a result, any kind of malware, known and new, first-seen malware, zero-days, ransomware and APT (advanced persistent threat) attacks from any kind are predicted and prevented in zero-time with unmatched accuracy and speed anywhere in the enterprise – network, endpoint, mobile – enabling multi-layered protection. To learn more, visit https://www.deepinstinct.com/.