The McAfee Advanced Threat Research team today published the McAfee® Labs Threats Report, December 2018. In this edition, we highlight the notable investigative research and trends in threats statistics and observations gathered by the McAfee Advanced Threat Research and McAfee Labs teams in Q3 of 2018.
We are very excited to present to you new insights and a new format in this report. We are dedicated to listening to our customers to determine what you find important and how we can add value. In recent months we have gathered more threat intelligence, correlating and analyzing data to provide more useful insights into what is happening in the evolving threat landscape. McAfee is collaborating closely with MITRE Corporation in extending the techniques of its MITRE ATT&CK™ knowledge base, and we now include the model in our report. We are always working to refine our process and reports. You can expect more from us, and we welcome your feedback.
As we dissect the threat landscape for Q3, some noticeable statistics jump out of the report. In particular, the continued rise in cryptojacking, which has made an unexpected emergence over the course of a year. In Q3 the growth of coin miner malware returned to unprecedented levels after a temporary slowdown in Q2.
Our analysis of recent threats included one notable introduction in a disturbing category. In Q3 we saw two new exploit kits: Fallout and Underminer. Fallout almost certainly had a bearing on the spread of GandCrab, the leading ransomware. Five years ago we published the report “Cybercrime Exposed,” which detailed the rise of cybercrime as a service. Exploit kits are the epitome of this economy, affording anyone the opportunity to easily and cheaply enter the digital crime business.
New malware samples jumped up again in Q3 after a decline during the last two quarters. Although the upward trend applies to almost every category, we did measure a decline in new mobile malware samples following three quarters of continual growth.
This post is only a small snapshot of the comprehensive analysis provided in the December Threats Report. We hope you enjoy the new format, and we welcome your feedback.
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