McAfee: Ransomware Has Grown 128 Percent Over 2015

Ransomware Growth Chart 2016 Intel Security's McAfee Labs Threat Report for September 2016 provides insight into the latest security statistics and trends, ranging from botnets to ransomware to malware "zoos."

Large companies (with more than 5,000 employees) on average have 31 to 50
data loss incidents per day, according to the study, which was released Sept. 14. Not surprisingly, financial services and retail companies have more data loss incidents than other industry verticals.

Also of particular note is the unending growth of malware, with McAfee Labs now tracking a malware zoo of more than 600 million samples. A number of specific areas of malware are growing fast, with mobile malware growing to more than 10.5 million samples.

Ransomware is also on the rise, with the total volume of ransomware samples known to McAfee now topping 7 million, a 128 percent year-over-year increase from 2015.

Not all forms of malware are growing though, new Mac OS malware declined by 70 percent during the second quarter. In this slide show, eWEEK examines key takeaways from the September 2016 McAfee Labs Threats Report: See the slide show here.

When analyzing different events that lead to security breaches, what topped the list was the deployment of new projects, followed by internal reorganization and new product launches. It's important to stay mindful of security threats every time something new is going on in the company as well as with employees coming and going.

Not only do users need to be aware of the current threat landscape, you need to make sure all the layers of your defense-in-depth are in place. This includes having weapons-grade backups in case an attack does happen as well as patching any known endpoint vulnerabilities, ensuring all software and hardware is kept up to date, and only allowing access to users that actually need it, just to name a few.

Since ransomware threats have been skyrocketing the last 12 months, it's a must stepping your users through effective security awareness training which includes training and frequent simulated attacks.

KnowBe4's integrated training and phishing platform allows you to send fully simulated phishing scams so you can see which users answer the emails and/or click on links in them or open infected attachments. If you have a Platinum subscription you can even send them "vishing" attacks straight to the phone on their desk.

See it for yourself and get a live, one-on-one demo.