Information on virus detection program

He has been a tech enthusiast for as long as he can remember and has spent countless hours researching and tinkering with PCs, mobile phones and game consoles. North America. Audio player loading…. Anthony Spadafora.

See more Computing news. You can count on cyber criminals to follow the money. They will target victims depending on likelihood of delivering their malware successfully and size of potential payout. If you look at malware trends over the past few years, you will see some fluctuation in terms of the popularity of certain types of malware and who the most common victims are—all driven by what the criminals believe will have the biggest ROI.

Recent research reports indicate some interesting shifts in malware tactics and targets. Cryptominers, which had surpassed ransomware as the most common type of malware, are falling out of favor due to the decline in cryptocurrency values. Ransomware is becoming more targeted, moving away from a shotgun approach.

Businesses saw a 79 percent increase in the amount of malware they dealt with in over , according to the Malwarebytes Labs State of Malware Report Kujawa cites Emotet as one of the most significant. Once it infects a system, it starts sending email and tries to infect other people. Emotet has been around since and targeted mainly consumers. Nearly 60 percent of malware attacks on business are now designed to move laterally across a network. That combined with the decline of cryptocurrency values and stepped up defenses against ransomware turned attackers to what worked in the past.

It always comes back around. The Malwarebyte Labs report has seen a shift away from cryptomining starting in the second quarter of , due largely to the decline in cryptocurrency values. Still, the number of cryptomining detections increased for the year by 7 percent. Instead, cyber criminals are turning to information stealing malware like Emotet to turn a profit. Kujawa notes that small and medium-sized businesses SMBs are becoming more popular targets.

They also often softer targets than larger businesses. Ransomware detections actually declined by 26 percent worldwide in , according to the Malwarebytes report. However, ransomware detections at businesses rose by 28 percent. Industries most often targeted were consulting, education, manufacturing and retail.

Kujawa believes criminals focus on these industries because of opportunity and likelihood of ransoms being paid. Here are the latest Insider stories. More Insider Sign Out. Sign In Register. Sign Out Sign In Register. Latest Insider. Check out the latest Insider stories here.

More from the IDG Network. How to identify, prevent and remove rootkits in Windows Dec 15, Computer scientists develop a framework to protect browsers from zero-day vulnerabilities in third-party libraries Dec 07, Dec 02, Nov 24, Load comments 1.

Let us know if there is a problem with our content. Your message to the editors. Your email only if you want to be contacted back. Send Feedback. Thank you for taking time to provide your feedback to the editors. E-mail the story Raspberry Pi system can detect viruses on other devices without use of software. Your friend's email. Your email. I would like to subscribe to Science X Newsletter. Learn more. Your name. Note Your email address is used only to let the recipient know who sent the email.

Your message. Your Privacy This site uses cookies to assist with navigation, analyse your use of our services, collect data for ads personalisation and provide content from third parties. I'm OK with that Cookie options. E-mail newsletter.