In Q1 2023, approximately five out of every 1,000 enterprise users attempted to download malware, with nearly three-quarters (72%) of these downloads comprising new variants. Alarmingly, almost 10% of all downloads originated from search engine queries, as threat actors exploit data voids and engage in SEO poisoning for rare search results. This represents just one of the many rapidly evolving social engineering techniques employed by attackers, as highlighted by the researchers.
Notably, social engineering remains the dominant method for malware delivery, with email, collaboration apps, and chat apps being exploited to deceive individuals into downloading malware. Trojans emerged as the most prevalent type of malware, accounting for 60% of all downloads while phishing downloads constituted 13% of the total.
