A new Bitdefender report has revealed the substantial rise in the number of ransomware attacks in 2020, accompanied by significant increases in malicious spam, mobile malware, phishing, and other attack types.
Bitdefender Consumer Threat Report Is Stark Reminder
Bitdefender releases a new Consumer Threat Landscape Report each year, updating their findings for the previous year.
The 2020 Consumer Threat Landscape Report [PDF] comes on the back of the COVID-19 pandemic, when millions of office workers were forced into work-from-home scenarios, while more people than ever visited every corner of the web looking for entertainment, news, and more.
While 2020 was not a typical year for average users or organizations, threat actors and threats thrived and even evolved in light of the global pandemic caused by the COVID-19 virus
Bitdefender reports a 485 percent increase in year-on-year ransomware attacks throughout 2020, with 64 percent of all ransomware attacks coming in the first two quarters of the year.
The total number of reported exploits also grew by around 300 percent. As with the ransomware stats, 66 percent of these exploits were registered in the first half of the year.
Criminals further capitalized on the massive switch to home working and mobile device usage with sustained attacks against Android devices. Fake Zoom and other messaging apps caught millions of users out, and that’s without mentioning the massive rise in Trojanized banking apps and other Android malware.
Another popular target, again because of the rise in use due to the pandemic, was Network Attached Storage (NAS) devices. The Bitdefender report shows a 198 percent year-on-year increase for attacks relating to NAS devices. While some NAS are just attached drives, many come with integrated operating systems or other vulnerable software, providing attackers an exploitable access point.
You might also note that the report shows a massive 449 percent increase in Emotet-related infections for the second half of 2020. That particular massive botnet was dealt an almost fatal blow in January 2021 when its infrastructure was taken offline, and several of its operators were arrested in a worldwide policing effort.
Security Doom and Gloom for Consumers
The security landscape doesn’t often provide much to cheer about. It’s a tireless task for security companies and professionals to keep the billions of people connected to the internet safe. With the constant barrage of threats, some are bound to breach the defenses from time to time.
But, as above, there are wins. Taking down the Emotet botnet was a massive achievement that took years of planning, but it has already had a massive effect on reducing ransomware, malware, and malicious spam. At least, until another botnet operator steps into the vacuum created through its demise.