Researchers Issue Warning Regarding Malware in PDF File Attachments
According to a new report released on Wednesday, PDFs are the most commonly used type of malicious email attachment, accounting for over 66% of malware delivered via email in 2022.
According to researchers at Palo Alto Networks Unit 42, monthly registrations of both benign and malicious domains increased by 910% with ChatGPT’s AI chatbot between November 2022 and April 2023.
The researchers also saw a huge increase (17,818 percent) in attempts to imitate ChatGPT using squatting domains – website names deliberately registered to look similar to a popular brand or product.
“With millions of people using ChatGPT, it’s no surprise that we’ve seen ChatGPT-related scams explode over the past year as cybercriminals take advantage of the hype around AI. But the trusted email PDF remains the most common way cybercriminals deliver malware,” said Sean Duca, VP and regional director of security at Palo Alto Networks.
In addition, hackers are more likely to target people who visit adult websites (20.2 percent) and financial services websites (13.9 percent) with newly registered domains (NRDs), according to the report.
Compared to 2021, exploitation of vulnerabilities has increased by 55 percent in 2022.
Between 2021 and 2022, the researchers saw an average increase of 238 percent in customer-specific attacks in industrial, municipal, and energy industries.
“Threat actors are constantly evolving their techniques, using evasion tools and cloaking methods to bypass detection. Organizations need to protect themselves against malware designed to exploit older vulnerabilities and proactively stay ahead of sophisticated new attacks,” said Anil Valluri, Regional Director India and SAARC, Palo Alto Networks.
