Quick Heal Technologies Releases Quarterly Threat Report; Identifies New Point Of Sale Malware As Credit/Debit Card Vulnerability Rises

Global IT Security Provider’s Second Quarter Threat Report Reveals 16 Percent Growth in Android Malware Samples Over the First Quarter of 2015

Quick Heal Technologies recently announced the release of its Quarterly Threat Report for the second quarter of 2015. The report offers a detailed look at the top malware samples and malware threats occurring in April to June 2015, along with upcoming security trends and takeaways from the quarter across the Windows and Android platforms. The complete report is now available as a complimentary download from the Quick Heal website.

A global provider of network security solutions, Quick Heal announced its entrance into the U.S. and Canadian markets in April 2015 with a focus on the small to midsize enterprise (SME), and all sales handled exclusively through the IT channel. The international company receives real-time global virus signature updates for desktops and mobile devices across multiple platforms and operating systems and has made a practice of issuing threat reports since early 2014.

Key findings of the Q2 2015 Threat Report for Android include:

• The Quick Heal Threat Research Labs received 500,000 Android malware samples per month for the second quarter of 2015. This represented a growth of 16% over Q1, 2015.
• Out of these detected samples, 170 new Android malware families and 232 new variants of existing malware families were detected.
• Analysis of several pre-installed apps on new devices has also led the Quick Heal Threat Research Labs to conclude that many devices are equipped with spyware right from the factory.
• Android Adware continues to dominate the malware charts with a 67% stake in the detected samples count, highlighting how malicious and intrusive ads are primary propagation methods.
• The most prominent Android sample from Q2 was Android.Airpush.G, which is a form of Android Adware. This sample constituted a whopping 49% of all detected samples.

Across the Windows platform, Quick Heal detected approximately 65 million malware samples per month in the second quarter of 2015. Other key findings surrounding the Windows platform include:

• New Point of Sale (PoS) malware families have also been found in Q2 2015 and these steal credit/debit card details from PoS terminals of merchants.
• Threat authors have moved their attention to the banking sector and common banking Trojans are expected to make use of spear phishing emails, social engineering tactics, and Remote Access Control tools for remotely controlling ATM machines.
• Moreover, Quick Heal experts found that close to 74% of Windows malware samples detected run on 32-bit machines. In most cases, these in-the-wild variants are not supported on 64-bit systems.
• In Q2, 2015 the most number of malware threats were detected in the Trojan category.Trojans enter vulnerable machines through trusted software or downloads, or other propagation techniques.
• The most common malware sample detected was LNK.Exploit.Gen, which constituted 26% of the total samples.
• Adware and “Malvertising” remain top attack vectors for malware authors and malicious software samples. Adware samples are also expected to use browser hijacking techniques in the near future. 

“The Quick Heal Threat Report for Q2, 2015 highlights the rising challenges of malware across popular computing platforms and underscores the critical need for awareness and effective security measures by SMEs, now more than ever,” said Sanjay Katkar, Quick Heal CTO and co-founder. “Additionally, the evolving nature of malware and the various devices upon which they can propagate should also make Internet users wary about every single click that they make online.”

For a complimentary copy of the Q2 Threat Report, visit the Quick Heal website.

For more information on Quick Heal, visitwww.quickheal.com.

About SEQRITE
SEQRITE is the enterprise security brand of Quick Heal Technologies Pvt. Ltd.  Sold in North America through qualified channel partners, the comprehensive SEQRITE data security product line specifically targets small to midsize enterprises and is designed to simplify security management across endpoints, mobile devices and networks. SEQRITE is built around the Quick Heal AV engine, which is internationally certified by OPSWAT, Checkmark, ICSA Labs, AV-Comparatives and other recognized organizations. For more information visit www.seqrite.com.

About Quick Heal Technologies
Quick Heal Technologies Pvt. Ltd., founded in 1993, is a global IT security solutions provider, serving customers worldwide. For more information, visit www.quickheal.com.