"EMEA Continues to Be a Hotspot for Malware Threats"

According to the most recent Internet Security Report from the WatchGuard Threat Lab, ransomware detections in the first quarter of this year surpassed the total number reported for 2021. Researchers also discovered that the notorious Log4Shell vulnerability tripled its attack attempts, the Emotet botnet made a strong comeback, and malicious cryptomining activity increased. Despite data from the Threat Lab's Q4 2021 report showing a downward trend in ransomware attacks year over year, everything changed in Q1 2022 with a huge spike in ransomware detections. While the notorious REvil cybergang was brought to justice in Q4 2021, according to WatchGuard analysis, this may have opened the door for the LAPSUS$ extortion group to appear. This, along with numerous new ransomware variants like BlackCat, the first known ransomware written in the Rust programming language, may have contributed to the rise of ransomware and cyber-extortion as a threat type. The data also indicates that EMEA is still a major hub for malware threats. WatchGuard Fireboxes in EMEA were affected more than those in North, Central, and South America (AMER), with 57 percent and 22 percent, respectively, followed by Asia-Pacific (APAC) at 21 percent, according to regional detections of basic and evasive malware. This article continues to discuss key findings from WatchGuard Threat Lab's latest Internet Security Report. 

Help Net Security reports "EMEA Continues to Be a Hotspot for Malware Threats"