From helpnetsecurity.com
Check Point has published its latest Global Threat Index for November 2018. The index reveals that the Emotet botnet has entered the Index’s top 10 ranking after researchers saw it spread through several campaigns, including a Thanksgiving-themed campaign.
This involved sending malspam emails in the guise of Thanksgiving cards, containing email subjects such as happy “Thanksgiving day wishes”, “Thanksgiving wishes” and “the Thanksgiving day congratulation!” These emails contained malicious attachments, often with file names related to Thanksgiving, to spread the botnet and deploy other malware and malicious campaigns. As a result, eth Emotet botnet’s global impact has increased 25% compared to October 2018.
Meanwhile, November was the first anniversary of the Coinhive cryptominer leading the Global Threat Index, which it has done since December 2017. During the past 12 months, Coinhive alone impacted 24% of organizations worldwide, while cryptomining malware had an overall global impact of 38%.