When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.

New year brings bad news for Linux as 2021 saw up to 10 times more malware samples

A keyboard key with a black logo containing a skull and two intertwined swords
via biz-tec

The new year has brought some bad news for Linux users and enthusiasts. According to a report published by cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike, Linux-specific malware saw a 35% increase in 2021 compared to a year before.

More specifically, the report here is talking about Linux malware targeting various Internet of Things (IoT) and mobile devices and how some of these malicious softwares are using the IoT to produce massive botnet armies in order to carry out distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks.

The report adds that out of the 35% malware increase previously mentioned, around 22% is due to IoT specific malware belonging to three families:

Clearly, the most progress it seems was made by Mozi which saw a ten times rise or a 900% increase in the number of malicious samples in 2021 compared to that in 2020. The Mozi botnet is known to utilize distributed hash table (DHT) that has helped the malware ramp its figures up by such huge proportions.

While not quite as prevalent, XorDDoS also had a 123% or nearly two and a half times increase in its sample count, too.

And finally, we have the Miral botnet malware which saw three variants Sora, IZIH9, and Rekai, increase by 33%, 39%, and 83% respectively in 2021.

Source: CrowdStrike

Report a problem with article
Next Article

FedEx cargo Airbus A321-200 planes could get anti-missile lasers for self-defense if FAA approves

Microsoft Weekly logo in middle with Windows logo with angry emoji on left and volume UI with vomiti
Previous Article

Microsoft Weekly: Windows Server headaches, new builds, and retail enhancements

Join the conversation!

Login or Sign Up to read and post a comment.

18 Comments - Add comment