Check Point Research (CPR) has published its latest Global Threat Index for August 2021. Researchers report that Formbook is now the most prevalent malware, taking over Trickbot, which has fallen into second following a three-month long reign.
The banking trojan, Qbot, whose operators are known to take breaks during the summer, has dropped from the top 10 completely after a long stay on the list, whilst Remcos, a remote access trojan (RAT), has entered the index for the first time in 2021, ranking in sixth place.
First seen in 2016, Formbook is an infostealer that harvests credentials from various web browsers, collects screenshots, monitors and logs keystrokes, and can download and execute files according to its command and control (C&C) orders. Recently, Formbook was distributed via COVID-19 themed campaigns and phishing emails, and in July 2021, CPR reported that a new strain of malware derived from Formbook, called XLoader, is now targeting macOS users.
“Formbook’s code is written in C with assembly inserts and contains a number of tricks to make it more evasive and harder for researchers to analyze,” said Maya Horowitz, VP Research at Check Point Software. “As it is usually distributed via phishing emails and attachments, the best way to prevent a Formbook infection is by staying acutely aware of any emails that appear strange or come from unknown senders. As always, if it doesn’t look right, it probably isn’t.”
CPR also revealed this month that “Web Server Exposed Git Repository Information Disclosure” is the most commonly exploited vulnerability, impacting 45% of organizations globally, followed by “HTTP Headers Remote Code Execution” which affects 43% of organizations worldwide. “Dasan GPON Router Authentication Bypass” takes third place in the top exploited vulnerabilities list, with a global impact of 40%.
Top malware families
*The arrows relate to the change in rank compared to the previous month.
This month, Formbook is the most popular malware impacting 4.5% of organizations globally, followed by Trickbot and Agent Tesla, impacting 4% and 3% of organizations worldwide respectively.
Top exploited vulnerabilities
This month “Web Server Exposed Git Repository Information Disclosure” is the most commonly exploited vulnerability, impacting 45% of organizations globally, followed by “HTTP Headers Remote Code Execution” which affects 43% of organizations worldwide. “Dasan GPON Router Authentication Bypass” takes third place in the top exploited vulnerabilities list, with a global impact of 40%.
Top Mobile Malwares
This month xHelper takes first place in the most prevalent Mobile malwares, followed by AlienBot and FluBot.
Check Point’s Global Threat Impact Index and its ThreatCloud Map is powered by Check Point’s ThreatCloud intelligence. ThreatCloud provides real-time threat intelligence derived from hundreds of millions of sensors worldwide, over networks, endpoints and mobiles. The intelligence is enriched with AI-based engines and exclusive research data from Check Point Research, The Intelligence & Research Arm of Check Point Software Technologies.