In 2023, Kaspersky, a cybersecurity solutions company, revealed an alarming surge in cyber threats with over 400,000 malicious files discovered daily, marking an almost 3% increase from the previous year.
Kaspersky noted that the 53% uptick in attacks used malicious Microsoft Office and other document types, which indicated the growing sophistication in cybercriminal tactics. Based on its research, attackers have been employing backdoors to infiltrate systems unnoticed, which further contributes to the continued escalation of the number of cyber threats.
“The entry barrier into cybercrime is now being lowered due to the proliferation of AI, which attackers use, for example, to create phishing messages with more convincing texts,” Vladimir Kuskov, head of Anti-Malware Research at Kaspersky, said in a media release.
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Also within the year, Kaspersky has identified almost 125 million malicious files, predominantly targeting Windows, accounting for 88% of detected malware-laden data each day. Among the top 3 threats were malicious families distributed through diverse scripts and document formats, constituting 10% of the daily malicious files.
Trojans
The detection systems noted a 53% daily increase in malicious files across various document formats, such as Microsoft Office and PDFs, totaling about 24,000 files. This rise was attributed to heightened attacks utilizing phishing PDFs designed to extract data from unsuspecting victims.
Trojans remained the most prevalent type of malware. The employment of backdoors escalated significantly, rising from 15,000 detected files per day in 2022 to 40,000 in 2023. Backdoors, a particularly hazardous form of trojans, grant attackers remote control over victim systems, enabling a range of malicious activities including file manipulation, data theft, and monitoring computer usage.
“In these times, it is essential both for large organizations and for every regular user to embrace reliable security solutions,” Kuskov said.