The threat-related statistics of malware and ransomware are mind-boggling. We have regularly reported on the dramatic increase of ransomware, but the statistics on successful exploitation and botnet activities are just as bad.

According to Nuspire’s Q3 Threat Landscape Report (www.nuspire.com), based upon its experience over the last three months, there was an increase of 128.21 percent in malware events since Q2.  Even more shocking is that the summary of findings shows that there were 3,646,448 malware events, 30,480,289 exploitation events, and 1,519,869 botnet events.

Just to put that in perspective, there were 1,168 unique malware variants detected, 43,410 malware variants were detected per day, and 303,870 malware variants were detected per week. According to the Report, “The largest contribution to increased activity was Visual Basic for Applications based documents….VBA Agents are a generic type of trojan that utilize Microsoft Office applications such as Microsoft Word and Microsoft Excel. These are often deployed in malspam campaigns and include common lures such as legal documents, invoices or may be themed after prominent media events.”

VBA Agents are used to introduce Emotet, which Nuspire found to have increased between Q2 and Q3. Therefore, “[O]rganizations should be extremely cautious when interacting with email attachments, especially ones from unknown senders and those that contain macros. User awareness training is critical to prevent interaction with these files…”

The statistics are scary and are getting worse. Malware protection and prevention all come down to the same thing: user awareness. One user can click on one malicious phishing email and all safety protocols can be compromised. Users have to understand the increased risk they pose to the company and companies have to provide their users with tools so they don’t become a victim. Let’s make December “User Education and Awareness Month” and get that user education on the books before the end of the year.

Photo of Linn Foster Freedman Linn Foster Freedman

Linn Freedman practices in data privacy and security law, cybersecurity, and complex litigation. She is a member of the Business Litigation Group and the Financial Services Cyber-Compliance Team, and chair’s the firm’s Data Privacy and Security Team. Linn focuses her practice on…

Linn Freedman practices in data privacy and security law, cybersecurity, and complex litigation. She is a member of the Business Litigation Group and the Financial Services Cyber-Compliance Team, and chair’s the firm’s Data Privacy and Security Team. Linn focuses her practice on compliance with all state and federal privacy and security laws and regulations. She counsels a range of public and private clients from industries such as construction, education, health care, insurance, manufacturing, real estate, utilities and critical infrastructure, marine and charitable organizations, on state and federal data privacy and security investigations, as well as emergency data breach response and mitigation. Linn is an Adjunct Professor of the Practice of Cybersecurity at Brown University and an Adjunct Professor of Law at Roger Williams University School of Law.  Prior to joining the firm, Linn served as assistant attorney general and deputy chief of the Civil Division of the Attorney General’s Office for the State of Rhode Island. She earned her J.D. from Loyola University School of Law and her B.A., with honors, in American Studies from Newcomb College of Tulane University. She is admitted to practice law in Massachusetts and Rhode Island. Read her full rc.com bio here.