Ransomware Up, Spam Down: Seven Security Trends
There has been no summer slowdown for security stats, but it’s not all bad news either. That’s what McAfee Labs found in its 2Q15 Threats Report.
Total Malware Grew by 12 Percent
On the whole, the total volume of malware in the McAfee Labs malware zoo at the end of the second quarter topped 433 million, for a 12 percent quarterly gain.
Mobile Malware on the Rise
At 17 percent quarterly growth, the pace of growth in McAfee Labs’ mobile malware zoo is a bit faster than the total overall malware rate.
Mobile Malware Infection Rates Vary by Location
Regional mobile malware infection rates are not uniform around the world. The highest infection rates in the second quarter were reported in Africa and Asia, while the lowest were found in Europe and Australia.
No Break in Ransomware Growth
Ransomware is a form of malware that locks a user’s system until a fee, or “ransom,” is paid to an attacker. In the second quarter of 2015, McAfee Labs detected 58 percent more new ransomware samples than the first quarter of 2015.
Wapomi Is the Most Prevalent Botnet
According to McAfee Labs, the Wapomi botnet was the most prevalent botnet it detected in the second quarter, coming in at 19.9 percent.
Spam Domains Growing
One particularly strong metric in the second quarter was the growth of new spam addresses (URLs) and their associated domains. McAfee Labs reported a 380 percent increase in new spam URLs for the second quarter.
Overall Spam Is Declining
While many security indicators tracked by McAfee show a rising trend, three is one area that is continuing to decline. That area is the volume of global spam, which hit a multiyear peak in the third quarter of 2014 and has been in decline the following three quarters, including the most recent second quarter of 2015.