Η Europol κατέταξε πρόσφατα το ransomware σαν “την πιο σημαντική απειλή κακόβουλου software.” But is this reality? If we look at the data realistically, ransomware appears to be a marginal risk.
Despite the chaos caused by the recent ones attacks to WannaCry and NotPetya, these file encryption programs are part of a family of malware that worldwide accounted for less than one percent of the 600 million unique malware released for platform of Windows in 2016.
The AV-Test supports (PDF) that 2016 was incorrectly named "the year of ransomware" and that it won the title due to the damage it caused and the way malware targets organizations or can spread indiscriminately worldwide.
However, it notes that the fourth most common family of malware programs, 2016, was the Virlock file encryption ransomware. As reported by Microsoft in one her recent report, around half a billion emails with ransomware are shipped to Windows systems every quarter.
The share of bank trojans reaches 2,74% of all malware, but the damage it causes is very difficult to record because of their nature: for example, attacks on the banking network SWIFT.
Overall, there was a 15% decrease in new malware developed for Windows in 2016 compared to 2015, suggesting a slowdown in new threats. Windows malware accounts for 70% of all malware out of 640 millions samples collected by AV-Test. Android malware is at 5,6%.
Threats to Linux systems, such as the Mirai malware, increased by 300% in 2016, while macOS malware increased by 370%, from 819 different malware threats to 3.033. Most of these macOS threats are considered "potentially unwanted software"
The number of new malicious apps for Android 2016 has reached four million, or doubled by 2015. Most of these threats are trojan applications.
Ransomware for Android remained a minor threat to 0,22% of all 8.822 malware for Android, compared to 12.521 that existed last year.
