The Emotet Trojan, after undergoing a makeover, is back at the top of malware charts, according to Check Point’s Global Threat Index for December 2020. Emotet was re-designed to boast more evasive strategies that prevent detection. The malware was in fifth place in the Global Threat Index in November but has since resumed the top spot. The notorious Trojan now accounts for 7% of global malware infections after an extensive spam campaign targeted roughly 100,000 users over the holidays.
Other updates that Emotet now boasts include new malicious payloads, a dialogue box, and detection evasion capabilities. The spam campaign utilized embedded links, password protected Zip files, and document attachments to lure victims. Emotet and Trickbot are often used together to gain an initial foothold into networks during a cyberattack. To combat the latest development in the Emotet Trojan, companies should focus on email security with anti-phishing capabilities and in-depth user awareness training.
Read More: Emotet Tops Malware Charts in December After Reboot
