According to Surfshark’s research, the global threat rate was 15 threats per 100 scan cycle. During the month leading up to Black Friday, the most common threat in the world was riskware. Also, Europe was the most affected region by cyberthreats. The five countries that suffered the highest threat rate spikes during Black Friday (week-over-week) were Romania (4349%), Australia (275%), Lithuania (95%), Belgium (440%), and Germany (75%).
Europe was the most affected region
Aggregated monthly data from Surfshark Antivirus shows that the leaders in each region by threat rate were: South Korea in Asia-Pacific, the U.S. in North America, Romania in Europe, and Argentina in South America. On average, 16 threats are found per 100 scans in the month leading up to Black Friday globally. Europe is the most affected region by cyberthreats (28% more than the global average).
The most common threat types identified and flagged during Surfsharks’ Antivirus scans are riskware (47.3% of all threats), heuristic 12.4%), and adware (9.2%). Since October 17th, the latest weekly global scans show that, on average, 10 riskware threats were found per 100 scans. Some malware (viruses, trojans, worms, etc.) tend to multiply once they’ve infiltrated and infected a device and could cause damage to files, personal data, and operating software. The most likely malware type to be found in bundles is virus. 24% of scans that detect viruses will detect more than 50 of them.
Most common cyberthreat categories
Two of the most common cyberthreat categories are malware and riskware. Riskware is a program made without malicious intent but has security vulnerabilities that give it the potential to become malware. Malware is any software, product, or program created or installed onto a computer to cause harm.
Hackers use malware to corrupt or delete files, steal money and personal data, copy passwords, or take control of specific programs. The most common ways for malware to be installed are phishing emails, corrupt attachments, suspicious downloads, unfamiliar links, and malicious websites. Malware comes in various types, such as viruses, trojans, worms, spyware, adware, bots, and more.