Global cyberattacks increased by 38% in 2022 on a year-over-year basis and were driven by smaller, more agile hackers and ransomware gangs. As per a report, the global volume of cyberattacks reached an all-time high in Q4, with an average of 1,168 weekly attacks per organisation. Now, a new report has listed top malware families that were most used by hackers last month.
Check Point Software cybersecurity company published in its “Global Threat Index for December 2022” report that Qbot was the most prevalent malware last month with an impact of 7% of organisations worldwide, followed by Emotet with a global impact of 4% and XMRig with a global impact of 3%.

Which malware was most in December 2022
Qbot, also known as Qakbot, is a banking trojan (or banking virus) that is designed to steal a user’s banking credentials and keystrokes. Often distributed via spam email, Qbot employs several anti-VM, anti-debugging, and anti-sandbox techniques to hinder analysis and evade detection, the report said. It first appeared in 2008.
Emotet is an advanced, self-propagate and modular trojan. It was previously used as a banking trojan but was recently used as a distributor for other malware or malicious campaigns. It can be spread through phishing spam emails containing malicious attachments or links.
“XMRig is open-source CPU mining software used to mine the Monero cryptocurrency. Threat actors often abuse this open-source software by integrating it into their malware to conduct illegal mining on victims’ devices,” the cybersecurity company said.

“The overwhelming theme from our latest research is how malware often masquerades as legitimate software to give hackers backdoor access to devices without raising suspicion. That is why it is important to do your due diligence when downloading any software and applications or clicking on links, regardless of how genuine they look,” said Maya Horowitz, VP Research at Check Point Software.
Last month, Glupteba Malware blockchain-enabled trojan botnet returned to the top ten list for the first time since July 2022. As a modular malware variant, Glupteba can achieve various objectives on an infected computer. The botnet is often used as a downloader and dropper for other malware.
Top attacked industries globally
The report says that last month, education/ research remained the most attacked industry globally, followed by government/military and then healthcare. In a previous report, Check Point said that healthcare was the most targeted industry in India.
“Hackers like to target hospitals because they perceive them as short on cyber security resources with smaller hospitals particularly vulnerable, as they are underfunded and understaffed to handle a sophisticated cyberattack,” said Omer Dembinsky, Data Group Manager at Check Point Software.