Phishing is leading malware type affecting remote employees

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The State of Consumer Cybersecurity 2023 report was released by ReasonLabs on January 19. The annual report is comprised of data from more than 180 countries.

The report highlights data from 2022 and 2021 to provide context on year-over-year cybersecurity trends. Key takeaways from the report include:

The emergence of the metaverse and increased adoption of IoT devices carry new cyber risks.
Malicious web extensions are becoming more and more prevalent — 15% of all malicious extensions detected throughout 2022 came from users in the United States.
Trojanized software such as coin miners, backdoors, infostealers, remote access trojans (RATs) and spyware continues to be a top threat to home users and remote employees, as they accounted for 31% of all detections.
Cyberwarfare is increasingly impacting average citizens around the world, with the most notable examples in 2022 coming from Russia’s war in Ukraine. The report found a large increase in detections in Ukraine throughout February compared to January, signaling that Russia’s invasion was also paired with cyberattacks.
Phishing remains the leading malware distribution method affecting home users and remote employees.
Crimeware as a Service (CaaS), the practice of providing cyber products and services to criminals to facilitate large-scale attacks, is on the rise. CaaS products and services typically deliver ransomware, malware, phishing threats and more.
As businesses improve their cybersecurity practices, attackers are increasingly focusing on home users. The proliferation of remote and hybrid work has made it easier for attackers to access corporate networks through employees' home networks.

The 2021 launch of the Ransomware and Digital Extortion Task Force in the U.S., along with government legislation around companies engaging with ransomware demands, means some attackers are deploying ransomware on home users instead of large corporations.

Click here to access the full report.

In today's rapidly evolving security landscape, organizations face an ever-growing array of disruptive events, security threats and risks. Traditional reactive approaches to security intelligence often leave businesses vulnerable and ill-prepared to anticipate and mitigate emerging threats that could impact the safety of their people, facilities or operations.

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