Top web hosting company Hostinger says 2023 proved to be a particularly banner year for malware, as its Monarx-powered scanning service successfully identified and cleaned almost 500 million threats during the year, which equates to 250 copies per customer.
While this figure is half of what it was in 2022, this is largely due to the company’s successful efforts to combat Phoenix, an uploader notorious for delivering other malware to systems.
Excluding Phoenix’s influence, 2023 saw a clear and significant increase in the number of unique malware pieces, an increase that Hostinger expects to continue this year.
DDoS attacks are coming
Hostinger noted that malicious activity peaked during sales periods, when more people are online and may be less cautious about security. The company’s malware scanner was especially active during major sales in November and December, with small spikes seen in May and August.
The company also says its infrastructure suffered more than 185,000 DDoS attacks, an average of 500 per day. The company’s advanced traffic filter has successfully thwarted the majority of these, reducing the use of remotely activated black holes by up to 95% and improving uptime for services and customers.
The company also reports that the use of artificial intelligence (AI) by cybercriminals will increase significantly by 2023, which should come as no surprise to anyone.
Emerging threats were also identified targeting small businesses and small shops, and ransomware, which used to target large, solvent companies, is increasingly targeting small businesses.
Cryptocurrency miners are also ramping up their activity, Hostinger says, especially as bitcoin prices fall and traditional mining declines, making mining on web servers lucrative.