The Rise of Email-Delivered Malware

Recent events in the world have once again highlighted the fragility of society. The most serious and alarming of these events is the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. Consequently, there is a significant increased threat surrounding email-delivered malware. The combination of malware and email is closely related to each other. It is estimated that approximately 90% of malware is delivered through email.  

It is widely reported and generally accepted that since the escalation between Russia and Ukraine, cyberattacks have been used to contribute to the destabilisation of Ukraine’s regime and critical infrastructure. 

However, every organisation finds itself the potential target for cyber-attacks. Russia is at the forefront of the conversation, but cyber-attacks can be instigated by countless players and range from low-level phishing attacks to destructive attacks targeting critical infrastructure.  

The most common form is Phishing. Phishing is a cyber fraud, in which a cybercriminal tries to impersonate a person or company to gain your trust and trick you into performing detrimental actions such as inputting sensitive credentials, giving out internal information or simply tricking a user into clicking on a malicious link.  

There has also been a significant increase in malicious files (e.g.: excel & word documents) attached to emails to encourage the user to open the file and compromise their machine. The desired outcome for the cybercriminals is to gain a foothold within your organisation’s infrastructure.