Global malware volume down by 20%, while ransomware attacks rise: SonicWall report

SonicWall announced the findings from its mid-year update of the 2019 ‘SonicWall Cyber Threat Report’, based on real-world data from more than 1 million international security sensors in over 200 countries. New data found an escalation in ransomware-as-a-service, open-source malware kits and cryptojacking used by cybercriminals.

"Organizations continue to struggle to track the evolving patterns of cyberattacks — the shift to malware cocktails and evolving threat vectors — which makes it extremely difficult for them to defend themselves," said SonicWall President and CEO Bill Conner. "In the first half of 2019, SonicWall Real-Time Deep Memory Inspection (RTDMI) technology unveiled 74,360 'never-before-seen' malware variants. To be effective, companies must harness innovative technology, such as machine learning, to be proactive against constantly-changing attack strategies."

While global malware volume is down 20%, researchers found a 15% increase in ransomware attacks globally. SonicWall threat researchers accredit this to criminals' new preference of ransomware-as-a-service (RaaS) and open-source malware kits.

As businesses and consumers continue to connect devices to the internet without proper security measures, IoT devices have been increasingly leveraged by cybercriminals to dispense malware payloads. In the first half of 2019, SonicWall observed a 55% increase in IoT attacks, a number that outpaces the first two quarters of the previous year.

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