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October 2021's Most Wanted Malware: Trickbot Takes Top Spot for Fifth TimeSAN CARLOS, Calif., Nov. 11, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Check Point Research, the Threat Intelligence arm of Check Point® Software Technologies Ltd. (NASDAQ: CHKP), a leading provider of cyber security solutions globally, has published its latest Global Threat Index for October 2021. Researchers report that the modular botnet and banking trojan, Trickbot, remains at the top of the most prevalent malware list, affecting 4% of organizations worldwide, while “Apache HTTP Server Directory Traversal” has entered the top ten list of exploited vulnerabilities. CPR also reveals that the most attacked industry is Education/Research. Trickbot can steal financial details, account credentials, and personally identifiable information, as well as spread laterally within a network and drop ransomware. Since the Emotet takedown in January, Trickbot has featured at the top of the most prevalent malware list five times. It is constantly being updated with new capabilities, features and distribution vectors which enables it to be a flexible and customizable malware that can be distributed as part of multi-purpose campaigns. A new vulnerability, "Apache HTTP Server Directory Traversal", has entered the top ten list of exploited vulnerabilities for October, in tenth place. When it was first discovered, developers of Apache released fixes for CVE-2021-41773 in Apache HTTP Server 2.4.50. However, the patch was found to be insufficient, and a directory traversal vulnerability still exists in Apache HTTP Server. Successful exploitation of this vulnerability could allow an attacker to access arbitrary files on the affected system. “The Apache vulnerability only came to light early in October and is already one of the top ten most exploited vulnerabilities worldwide, showing how fast attackers move. This vulnerability can lead threat actors to map URLs to files outside the expected document root by launching a path traversal attack,” said Maya Horowitz, VP Research at Check Point Software. “It’s imperative that Apache users have appropriate protection technologies in place. This month, Trickbot, which is often used to drop ransomware, is once again the most prevalent malware. Globally, one out of every 61 organizations is impacted by ransomware every week. That’s a shocking figure and companies need to do more. Many attacks start with a simple email, so educating users on how to identify a potential threat is one of the most important defenses an organization can deploy.” CPR also revealed this month that Education/Research is the most attacked industry globally, followed by Communications and Government/Military. “Web Servers Malicious URL Directory Traversal” is the most commonly exploited vulnerability, impacting 60% of organizations globally, followed by “Web Server Exposed Git Repository Information Disclosure” which affects 55% of organizations worldwide. “HTTP Headers Remote Code Execution” remains in third place in the top exploited vulnerabilities list, with a global impact of 54%. Top malware families *The arrows relate to the change in rank compared to the previous month. This month, Trickbot is the most popular malware impacting 4% of organizations worldwide, followed by XMRig with 3% and Remcos with 2%.
Top Attacked Industries Globally: This month, Education/Research is the most attacked industry globally, followed by Communications and Government/Military.
Top exploited vulnerabilities This month, “Web Servers Malicious URL Directory Traversal” is the most commonly exploited vulnerability, impacting 60% of organizations globally, followed by “Web Server Exposed Git Repository Information Disclosure” which affects 55% of organizations worldwide. “HTTP Headers Remote Code Execution” remains in third place in the top exploited vulnerabilities list, with a global impact of 54%.
Top Mobile Malwares This month, xHelper remains in first place in the most prevalent Mobile malwares, followed by AlienBot and XLoader.
Check Point’s Global Threat Impact Index and its ThreatCloud Map is powered by Check Point’s ThreatCloud intelligence. ThreatCloud provides real-time threat intelligence derived from hundreds of millions of sensors worldwide, over networks, endpoints and mobiles. The intelligence is enriched with AI-based engines and exclusive research data from Check Point Research, The Intelligence & Research Arm of Check Point Software Technologies. The complete list of the top 10 malware families in October can be found on the Check Point blog. Follow Check Point Research via: About Check Point Research About Check Point Software Technologies Ltd.
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