"Malicious Office Documents Make Up 43 Percent of Malware Downloads"

A new study conducted by AtlasVPN found that 43 percent of all malware downloads in the second quarter of 2021 were malicious Microsoft Office documents, which is an increase from the same time in 2020 when only 14 percent of malware were distributed through Office files. In the third quarter of 2020, the volume increased to 38 percent before decreasing to 34 percent in 2020's fourth quarter and 2021's first quarter. Earlier this year, global law enforcement agencies had to stop the spread of Emotet malware via Word documents. Emotet's capability to open doors for malware installations such as information stealers, Trojans, and ransomware made it significantly dangerous. The success of Emotet has motivated other cybercriminals to attempt similar infection techniques. This article continues to discuss the increased weaponization of Microsoft Office documents to spread malware. 

BetaNews reports "Malicious Office Documents Make Up 43 Percent of Malware Downloads"