Comodo 2017 Global Malware Report: Key Takeaways

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Key Insights from the Comodo 2017 Global Malware Report

The Comodo Threat Intelligence Lab, a key part of the Comodo Threat Research Labs (CTRL), monitors and analyzes various cyber threats such as malware, ransomware, viruses and other potential dangers throughout the global workday in over 190 countries. The lab publishes its findings in the form of quarterly and annual reports. The Comodo 2017 Global Malware Report is the latest report to come out of the lab, and it offers us some key insights. The report details malware patterns observed through 2017 in different countries and industries.

Let’s have a look at our key takeaways from Comodo 2017 Global Malware Report.

Trojans top the charts once again

As we saw in the 2nd quarter of 2017, Trojans continue to be the head of the Malware family. Trojans topped the charts in 2017 with whopping 41% share. Researchers discovered 3,704 unique trojan families. Unsurprisingly, two of the most talked about countries in cyberspace – Russia, and the USA – lead the line in trojan-infected states with 9.7% and 9.3% trojan-share respectively.

Top 10 Countries of Trojan Detection

At the end of 2017, there was a definite downtrend in trojan detections. Unfortunately, this might not last much longer as they expect Trojans to make a comeback in the first quarter of this year.

Behind the trojan family, come Applications exhibiting malicious, unsafe, or undesirable behavior occupying 24.7% of the global malware threat. Backdoors stand 3rd on the podium with 10.1% share. Worms, Unsafe Apps, Unwanted Apps, and Viruses are other noteworthy contributors.

Elections coincide with a surge in malware

Comodo observed two instances when there was a “massive spike” in malware at the time of elections. On October 24, 2017, Comodo found a sudden increase in Kryptik trojans and around 94% of the 300,000 discovered were in Virginia, coinciding with the gubernatorial elections being held at the time. The second instance was observed in Norway on September 11, less than a week before Norway’s parliamentary elections.

This is just more evidence that the calls of “foreign interference” in international elections are not just empty impeachments, there really is something to them.

Political events and malware spikes go hand-in-hand

Not only the elections, but political events are also targeted by bad actors on the internet. Surprisingly (or not), this was observed pretty much everywhere around the globe be it North America, South America, Asia, Africa, Europe, Middle East, Africa or even Oceania. All this points in one direction: rise in nation-state attacks.

Backdoors on the rise

Backdoors, one of the hottest topics in the cyber security space right now, are also generating some heat in our PCs. Out of all malware families, only Backdoors were seen on the rise coming into the end of the year. With 18.8% and 19.7% shares, the US and Russia mark their presence here as well.

Crucial Numbers from Comodo 2017 Global Malware Report

  • 41% of the malware belong to the trojan family
  • Malicious applications come in at second place with 24.7% and backdoor at third with 10.1% share
  • Overall, Russia recorded the highest number of malware detections with 8.8%. While the US came a close second at 8.6%
  • Comodo detected 19 unique malware types in 2017

You can download the report from here.