Threat Hunter TeamSymantec
As the first half of the year drew to a close, we took a look through telemetry from our vast range of data sources and selected some of the trends that stood out from April, May, and June 2020.
From a resurgence in cryptojacking activity to the return of a major malware distribution platform, let’s take a quick look at the trends that shaped the cyber security threat landscape in the second quarter of 2020.
Cryptojacking
After a sharp decline in cryptojacking following the shutdown of browser-based mining script maker CoinHive in March 2019, the second quarter of 2020 saw a resurgence in activity. Browser-based cryptojacking events blocked by Symantec saw a 163 percent increase in Q2 2020 compared to the previous quarter. This spike in activity coincides with an increase in the value of cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin and Monero, which are two currencies often mined by browser-based coinminers.
For more information on cryptojacking, read our blog:
Cryptojacking: A Modern Cash Cow
Figure 1. Browser-based cryptojacking events blocked by Symantec were up 163 percent in Q2
Figure 2. Bitcoin price over Q2
Figure 3. Monero price over Q2
Malware Increases as Lockdown Restrictions Ease
As countries around the world began easing COVID-19 lockdown restrictions, malware distributors also resumed working at full capacity. May and June saw a significant increase in the number of malware attacks blocked by Symantec, a division of Broadcom (NASDAQ: AVGO). In total, Symantec blocked over 60 million infection attempts in the second quarter of 2020, which represents a 74.6 percent increase over the previous quarter.
Figure 4. Symantec blocked over 60 million malware infection attempts in Q2 2020, a 74.6% increase over Q1
Emotet
For over a year, the Emotet botnet (Trojan.Emotet) has been subdued, with two long pe ..
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