Linux Malware Rates Rise to Record Levels
linuxinsider.com
linuxinsider.com
> According to data analysis the Atlas VPN team released on Jan. 18, new Linux malware threats hit record numbers in 2022, increasing by 50% to 1.9 million.
> Compared to 2021, when 121.6 million samples were detected, new malware numbers overall dropped by 39% to 73.7 million in 2022. Most new Linux malware samples (854,690) were seen in the first quarter of 2022. But in the second quarter, new malware samples dropped by almost 3% to 833,065.
> Those Linux detection numbers plummeted again in the third quarter of last year by a staggering 91% to 75,841. But they picked up again in the fourth quarter of 2022, growing by 117% to 164,697.
> The Linux malware analysis is based on threat statistics from AV-Atlas, a threat intelligence platform from AV-Test GmbH, an independent research institute for IT security in Germany.
There's definitely something 'off' with the data if it can drop 91% in a quarter then pick up 117% in another. I also wouldn't trust any data collected by a company with "AV" in their name.
Not necessarily. If an exploited vulnerability is discovered and patched, you easily could observe such a dramatic trend. Or if a state sponsored one campaign ends, you also see a similar trend.
Now linux did have some very serious CVE's patched in 2022. On numerous occasions. Patch now campaigns can wipe out successful malware very quickly.
The the 90+% drop is an order of magnitude change and indeed 'big' but the subsequent 100+% increase is only a change by roughly 2x (less than half an order of magnitude).
The numbers for windows (~50x more popular than linux) were in millions, and the numbers for linux detections in the 100k's and tens of thousands:
quote: >> Most new Linux malware samples (854,690) were seen in the first quarter of 2022. But in the second quarter, new malware samples dropped by almost 3% to 833,065.>
>> Those Linux detection numbers plummeted again in the third quarter of last year by a staggering 91% to 75,841. But they picked up again in the fourth quarter of 2022, growing by 117% to 164,697.