Spreading malware through some kind of office document is the oldest trick in the book, but it still manages to be a really prevalent way for such malicious software to get around. This is surprising since one would expect something so commonplace to have all that much of an impact these days, but with all of that having been said and now out of the way it is important to note that plenty of people are still falling for it which is why it continues to be a problem that needs to be dealt with.
Research that was conducted by Netskope has revealed that around 43% of malware attacks come from office documents that people download at some point or another. The thing that stands out here is that malware infections from office documents have actually been on the rise. A year ago, only 14% of all malware attacks came from office documents so the proportion has more than tripled in that time. That means that this could be a case of a really old type of attack coming back due to the reason that people might have gotten complacent about that with all things having been considered and taken into account.
EMOTET is one of the most notorious types of malware that is currently being circulated through office documents and the like. It spread around in the earlier months of 2021, and while it was handled by law enforcement agencies it probably contributed to office document based malware exploitation due to the reason that many malicious actors likely saw how effective it was and sought to replicate its impact. This might also have to do with the fact that antivirus software is often unable to detect malware when it is sent through a document of some sort.
It is absolutely essential that businesses start to give their employees some type of training that can allow them to better understand what kind of threats are out there. This would enable them to avoid clicking on or downloading files that come from unknown senders. Malicious actors often try to take advantage of complacency and a lack of knowledge, and until businesses start to invest significant resources into employee education it seems somewhat unlikely that they would get the chance to obtain any kind of headway in terms of keeping their data secure from people that want to access it illegally.
Read next: Companies Being Repeatedly Targeted By Hackers To Gain Access And Additional Gain
Research that was conducted by Netskope has revealed that around 43% of malware attacks come from office documents that people download at some point or another. The thing that stands out here is that malware infections from office documents have actually been on the rise. A year ago, only 14% of all malware attacks came from office documents so the proportion has more than tripled in that time. That means that this could be a case of a really old type of attack coming back due to the reason that people might have gotten complacent about that with all things having been considered and taken into account.
EMOTET is one of the most notorious types of malware that is currently being circulated through office documents and the like. It spread around in the earlier months of 2021, and while it was handled by law enforcement agencies it probably contributed to office document based malware exploitation due to the reason that many malicious actors likely saw how effective it was and sought to replicate its impact. This might also have to do with the fact that antivirus software is often unable to detect malware when it is sent through a document of some sort.
It is absolutely essential that businesses start to give their employees some type of training that can allow them to better understand what kind of threats are out there. This would enable them to avoid clicking on or downloading files that come from unknown senders. Malicious actors often try to take advantage of complacency and a lack of knowledge, and until businesses start to invest significant resources into employee education it seems somewhat unlikely that they would get the chance to obtain any kind of headway in terms of keeping their data secure from people that want to access it illegally.
Read next: Companies Being Repeatedly Targeted By Hackers To Gain Access And Additional Gain
