INFOGRAPHIC
Q3 2017. Research data during the
quarter quantified 5,973 unique exploit
detections, 14,904 unique malware
variants from 2,646 different malware
families, and 245 unique botnets
detected. In addition, Fortinet identified
185 plus zero-day vulnerabilities.
• Botnet Reoccurrence: Many
organisations experienced the same
botnet infections multiple times. Either
the organisations did not thoroughly
understand the scope of the breach and
the botnet went dormant only to return
after business operations went back to
normal, or the root cause was never found
and the organisation was re-infected with
the same malware.
• Swarming Vulnerabilities: The exact
application exploit used by attackers to
breach Equifax was the most prevalent
with 6,000+ unique detections recorded
last quarter, and it is once again the
most prevalent this quarter. In fact,
three exploits against the Apache Struts
framework made the top 10 list of most
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prevalent. This is an example of how
attackers swarm when they catch scent of
widespread, vulnerable targets.
• Mobile Threats: One in four firms
detected mobile malware. Four mobile
malware specific families stood out for
the first time because of their prevalence.
This is an indication that mobile is
increasingly becoming a target.
• Pervasive and Evasive Malware: The
most common functionality among top
malware families was downloading,
uploading and dropping malware
on to infected systems. This behaviour
helps slip malicious payloads through
legacy defences by wrapping them in
dynamic packaging.
• Cybercriminals Target All Sizes:
Midsize firms saw higher rates of botnet
infections. Cybercriminals potentially
view midsize organisations as a ‘sweet
spot’ because often they do not have
the same level of security resources as
large enterprises but are seen as having
valuable data assets. n
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