{"id":2849,"date":"2022-03-23T00:02:00","date_gmt":"2022-03-23T07:02:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.malwarebytes.com\/press\/?p=2849"},"modified":"2023-09-21T13:36:23","modified_gmt":"2023-09-21T13:36:23","slug":"malwarebytes-2022-threat-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.malwarebytes.com\/press\/2022\/03\/23\/malwarebytes-2022-threat-review","title":{"rendered":"Malwarebytes Annual Report Reveals Massive \u201cCOVID Bounce\u201d in Cyberthreats"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A challenging year for security, 2021 was defined by a resurgence in dangerous cyberthreats affecting organizations and individuals, while revealing systemic weaknesses in legacy systems and software supply chains<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

San Francisco, Calif. \u2013 March 23, 2022 \u2013<\/strong>\u00a0Malwarebytes<\/a>TM<\/sup>, a global leader in real-time cyberprotection, today announced the findings from the 2022 edition of its annual \u201cThreat Review\u201d report. At a particularly perilous moment for privacy and security, Malwarebytes\u2019 research uncovered a \u201cCOVID bounce,\u201d a massive 2021 resurgence of cyberthreats across multiple categories following pandemic-induced declines in 2020.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Malwarebytes tracked a 77% increase in malware detections over 2020. Business-focused cyberthreats jumped 143%, while consumer-specific threats rose by 65% to more than 152 million in 2021. This increase represents more than a return to business as usual, with detection numbers far exceeding pre-pandemic figures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“2021 was a challenging year for both cybersecurity and user privacy, which points to alarming trends,” said Marcin Kleczynski, CEO of Malwarebytes. “With workforces still dispersed, cybercriminals capitalized on both new and latent vulnerabilities, burrowing deeply into critical infrastructure and infecting supply chains, driving increased threat volume, and homing in on targets with maximum potential for disruption. In this climate, ensuring every person and organization is thoroughly fortified against attacks through a simplified patching process and layered security is more critical than ever.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Surge in Surveillance<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a>In the wake of 2020’s lockdowns and stay-at-home orders, stalkerware surged, with spyware detections increasing 1,600% [1]<\/a> in the first six months of that year. 2020 was the worst year for stalkerware to that point, but 2021 would prove to be even worse. Malwarebytes detected Android monitoring apps 54,677 times and spyware apps 1,106 times, notable figures for this targeted form of abuse, especially due to Android’s history of adware issues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a founding member of the Coalition Against Stalkerware, Malwarebytes also highlights growing stalking concerns with Apple devices. In 2021, Pegasus spyware infected iPhones used by journalists and government officials, enabling surveillance of their locations and data. Average users also began struggling with the pros and cons of Apple-developed location trackers \u2013 AirTags \u2013 that enabled potential victims to be silently monitored by perpetrators. Despite several software updates enabling AirTags to reveal themselves after periods of quiet use, millions of people still face the prospect of being monitored without consent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Additional key findings from the report include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n