New research by Barracuda Networks shows that cybercriminals are increasingly distributing malware in the form of malicious documents. In the first quarter of this year, malicious documents made up a whopping 59% of all malicious files detected by the firm. This was only 41% for Q1 of last year, while the average number over the last 12 months is 48%.
According to the researchers, the rise of document-based malware is related to a decline in the use of malicious script files. Document-based malware is increasingly popular because victims are less likely to become suspicious when receiving a familiar filetype like a Microsoft Word or PDF document, than is true for script files. All of the detected malicious documents were used in phishing attacks.
Read more: Document-Based Malware on the Rise in 2019
