The number of new malicious files detected every day increased by 5.2%

The number of new malicious files detected every day increased by 5.2%

In 2020, globally an average of 360,000 new malicious files were detected by Kaspersky per day – an increase of 5.2% when compared to 2019. This was influenced mostly by a large growth in the number of Trojans (malicious files capable of a range of actions, including deleting data and spying) and backdoors (a specific type of Trojan that gives attackers remote control over the infected device) – a 40.5% and 23% increase respectively. These were the trends found by the Kaspersky Security Bulletin: Statistics of the Year Report.

Kaspersky’s detection systems discovered an average of 360,000 new malicious files every day during 2020 – 18,000 more than in 2019 and up from 346,000 in 2018. Of those malicious files, 60.2% of those were non-specific Trojans. In general, the percent of Trojans detected increased by 40.5% when compared to the previous year.

There was also a noticeable increase in the number of backdoors detected, as well as worms (malicious programs that self-replicate on your system), written on the VisualBasicScript language and usually belonging to the Dinihou malware family.

On the decline globally is adware (programs that bombard you with advertisements), which experienced a 35% decrease when compared to 2019. However, some regions saw an increase in adware. In South Africa, for example, by the end of October 2020, the average adware notifications per user increased to more than 33 in comparison to 32 for the entire 2019.

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