One of the most infamous Trojans / malicious / droppers in the world, Emotet seems to be losing some energy when the holidays start.
Check Point Research’s recent Global Threat Index in July 2022 showed that Emotet’s global impact was down 50% compared to June – but warned that it is still the reigning champion of malware, and will not change any time soon.
“Emotet continues to dominate our monthly malware lists,” said Maya Horowitz, vice president of research at Check Point Software. “This botnet is constantly evolving to maintain its persistence and avoidance. Its latest developments include a credit card theft module, which means that businesses and individuals need to be extremely careful when shopping online. In addition, as Microsoft now confirms that it blocks macros by default, we are waiting to see how malware like Snake Keylogger can change its tactic. “
Emotet is still far ahead of us
Last month was the peak of Emotet, the researchers said, adding that the Trojan has now reverted to its standard global impact indicators. While it is difficult to pinpoint exactly what caused this decline, researchers speculate that most likely it is only due to the vacation, not because the cybercriminal is withdrawing. Emotet constantly introduces new features is proof of such claims.
That being said, Emotet is still the most widespread malware in the world, with a global impact of 7%. Formbook ranks second with 3%, followed by XMRig with 2% global impact. Formbook is a six-year-old information stealer for Windows, sold as malware as a service and capable of stealing data from web browsers, collecting screenshots, logging keystrokes, and downloading and running files.
On the other hand, XMRig is a well-known cryptocurrency, software that mines the XMR (Monero) cryptocurrency for attackers. Though XMRig isn’t exactly a virus (opens in a new tab)and does not necessarily steal data or destroy the endpoint it is installed on, use most of the computing power, leaving the device sluggish and weaker.