Hummingbad Loses Spot as Top Mobile Malware Infector in January to Triada

For the first month of this year, a new mobile malware has taken the lead for top infector. That one is Triada. Triada opens a backdoor on Android devices and grants itself superuser privileges. It can then download malware and spoof URLs. It had been playing second fiddle to Hummingbad since February of 2016, according to Check Point’s Threat Impact index. Don’t feel bad for Hummingbad just yet though. It’s still very active and making its creators hundreds of thousands of dollars per month.

While those two will likely continue to compete for the top mobile malware, Kelihos is the most prolific malware overall. This is a botnet that is used to send spam and steal Bitcoin. It has infected 5% of organizations worldwide. Following Kelihos is HackerDefender and Cryptowall. These two each infected 4.5% of organizations in the month of January. HackerDefender is a tool used by hackers to make the hidden backdoor it creates difficult to detect. That leaves the organization vulnerable to all kinds of nefarious actions. Cryptowall is the infamous ransomware that caused the FBI to issue a warning to organizations in early 2015. It is estimated to cost between $200 and $10,000 per victim to remedy. It is typically distributed in malvertising or via phishing. Historically, it has been topped by Locky, but has slipped back a spot for this reporting period.

Confiker is another one making the list. While it spiked in December, it slipped to the fourth spot in January. This 14-year-old worm is the most prolific of its type and just won’t go away. Rounding out the top five is Nemucod. This is a malware downloader and tries many ways to infect a system before giving up. It’s a persistent one for sure.

Because all of these have different methods of infection, it’s important to just use good judgment whenever checking email, reading text messages, or browsing the Internet. Some malware can download if you merely click on an advertisement on the side of the screen. Others execute if you open an infected attachment or click on a link that takes you to a malicious website. If anything triggers a sixth sense and just doesn’t seem right, don’t click on anything. Just close the browser, delete the email, or avoid clicking on ads in the first place.

Always make sure anti-virus and anti-malware software is installed and kept updated on all devices. If a patch or update appears for your operating system, whether it’s Windows, Mac, Android, Linux, or anything else, apply the update immediately, particularly if it’s a security update. Not only will that help keep your devices safe, it’ll get rid of the little notification indicator or eliminate the annoying popup dialogue asking if you are ready to apply the update. That is reason enough to do it.

Other notables on the list were RookieUA information stealer, Nivadort botnet, the notorious Zeus banking trojan, the Ramnit banking trojan, and the Necurs botnet.