Windows Malware on the Rise – Quick Heal Threat Report Q3 2015

The Quick Heal Threat Research Labs receive malware trends from around the world in real-time and the results these findings show are very insightful. In the third quarter of 2015, the months of July, August and September, the Windows platform has undergone a rather large number of malware attacks and threats. When compared with the previous quarter, Q3 has seen almost a twofold rise in the number of malware samples we have received at the Quick Heal Labs. This blog post highlights some interesting snippets from this data, and the entire details of these samples can be found in the Quick Heal Threat Report – Q3, 2015.

Number of Malware Samples Received by Quick Heal

The detection count of malware samples rose to very high numbers in this quarter and the number of files received by our teams was staggering. Below you can see the number of Windows samples that were received by the Quick Heal Labs.

windows samples received

Upon analyzing the samples that have been received, it has been found that Trojans (with 34% share) were the most common type of malware that afflicted the Windows platform over the third quarter of 2015. The other malware types and their distribution is as shown below:

windows malware categories

Top 10 Windows Malware

Out of all the samples received, the sample most commonly found was the Worm.Conficker.Gen. This is a self-replicating worm that spreads from machine to machine through USB drives, external hard disks or through file sharing services. It does not need any human interaction to propagate and it also has the ability to disarm security products and other enabled system protections. The top 10 Windows malware samples that were detected in Q3 2015 are as follows:

  1. Worm.Conficker.Gen
  2. Browser.MalExt.BF
  3. JS.Adware.CrossRider.A
  4. Trojan.BitMin.g8
  5. PUA.Clientconn.Gen
  6. Adware.Linkury.A3
  7. Trojan.Quolko.A
  8. TrojanDownloader.Esaprof.A4
  9. PUA.Softonicin.Gen
  10. TrojanDownloader.Upatre

Apart from these malware samples that were detected, the major Windows malware categories that afflicted hundreds of thousands of machines worldwide were Adware, Ransomware, Exploit Kits and new strains of Banking Malware.

Some prominent Adware samples that were found were CrossRider, Linkury, MultiPlug, Kranet and Eorezo. Ransomware evolved even further and demanded payment from several victims in the form of Bitcoins, an untraceable form of virtual currency. While new strains of Ransomware are rarely discovered anymore, new variants of existing Ransomware samples are found more regularly. Our team discovered new variants of Cryptowall 3.0, Troldesh, TeslaCrypt 2.0, Onion and more previously seen Ransomware types. Apart from these, Exploit Kits that took advantage of security holes in Adobe, Java and other commonly used programs were also found in many machines. Several of these Exploit Kits were used as precursors for larger APT campaigns targeted at industries.

Q3 2015 was an eventful one for Windows malware samples and the number of files that are detected is staggering. It just goes to show the importance of security products and updating software as often as possible. For more details, the in-depth Quick Heal Threat Report Q3, 2015 can be found here.

Rahul Thadani

Rahul Thadani


83 Comments

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  1. online instructions only

    Reply
  2. Avatar Santosh chaudhariNovember 3, 2015 at 4:09 PM

    Yes remoove

    Reply
  3. No comments

    Reply
  4. Avatar MallikarjunaNovember 3, 2015 at 4:38 PM

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  5. Avatar sooryanarayanan jayaramanNovember 3, 2015 at 4:40 PM

    The installed Dropbox was spoiled by Ouick heal anti virus. One of the file of Dropbox was removed…. Now I have uninstalled Drop box ..But still it is not out of my computer.I have disabled the Dropbox file from startup..

    Reply
  6. Avatar magaram LahuaaNovember 3, 2015 at 4:40 PM

    Yes

    Reply
  7. Avatar Gopalappa TNovember 3, 2015 at 4:56 PM

    i have quick heal internet antivirus, still one more moth is there to expire
    even though my system is running into problem and terminate the session and restart automatically. why?
    Regards
    Gopalappa T

    Reply
  8. Avatar Chandan DasNovember 3, 2015 at 5:35 PM

    It is best Antivirus to protect your System.I am using it still i didnt found any fault,so in my openion it is best Antivirus.

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  9. Avatar Dinesh SharmaNovember 3, 2015 at 5:35 PM

    GOOD

    Reply
  10. I am using older version 2013 version please upgrade automatically to new version

    Reply
  11. Avatar Vimal GuptaNovember 3, 2015 at 5:57 PM

    you have to download a fresh setup of latest antivirus 2015 from the link https://www.quickheal.co.in/quick-heal-product-installer. just insert your key and get the setup. before you do all this, you need to uninstall previous version of quick heal and then install the fresh copy.

    Reply
  12. Avatar navjotsinghNovember 3, 2015 at 6:08 PM

    ok

    Reply
  13. Avatar paras bhuddiNovember 3, 2015 at 6:44 PM

    i could not upgrate my quick heal antivirus plz help me to solve this problem
    & I am using older version 2013 version please upgrade automatically to new version

    Reply
  14. Avatar mukesh kumarNovember 3, 2015 at 7:09 PM

    very nice

    Reply
  15. My Quick Heal report indicates computer to be free from virus and Malaware but the I/O error has gradually increased to 11400. Suggest the remedy if the I/O error is dangerous.
    Thanking you in anticipation,
    With Love and regards
    Dr. Anil Nimbkar

    Reply
  16. Avatar Chiraranjan ChakrabortyNovember 3, 2015 at 7:23 PM

    Very good information received.

    Reply
  17. Avatar SURANJAN SHAHNovember 3, 2015 at 7:24 PM

    Wonderful information and very informative too. Looking forward to such kind of information in the future also. The question is how far the Quick Heal is effective against such intrusion and infections.

    Reply
  18. Thanks for the prompt update. Information is power and Quick Heal is doing wonedrs for me.

    Reply
  19. Avatar Himanshu kansalNovember 3, 2015 at 7:49 PM

    i am using old version 2014 please upgrade automatically to new version

    Reply
  20. Malware attacks my new PC every day, Quick Heal 3 Year 2013 – 2016 Version fails to help anyway, please so something to save my PC while updating my QH version.
    Thanking you
    Danielly yours
    DANIEL RAY
    03-11-2015

    Reply
  21. Avatar SOUMENDRANATH DASNovember 3, 2015 at 8:09 PM

    esay to acess

    Reply
  22. Avatar Piyush BhattNovember 3, 2015 at 8:51 PM

    I like Quick Heal Internet Security.
    Thanku Thanku Sirji

    Reply
  23. Avatar SANTOSH KR ADITNovember 3, 2015 at 10:08 PM

    Only one name is anti virus “QUICK HEAL TOTAL SECURITY” for any viruses problem in system this time. proper secure from shortcut & partition hide only qhts in this october 2015

    Reply
  24. use in 2014 ver

    Reply
  25. Avatar SUDHIR KEMWALNovember 3, 2015 at 10:59 PM

    I am not able to install quick heal pls. help.

    Reply
  26. Avatar SUDHIR KEMWALNovember 3, 2015 at 11:02 PM

    NO COMMENT

    Reply
  27. Avatar vasasnt joshiNovember 3, 2015 at 11:19 PM

    The system suddenly halts unexpectably and has to start again.
    Why this is so? Will it affect the data and creat problem?

    Reply
  28. outstanding service as compared other antivirus.

    Reply
  29. Avatar rakesh yadavNovember 3, 2015 at 11:59 PM

    any malware virus damage the system you will solve this immedietly.

    Reply
  30. Avatar Ratan Singh RajpurohitNovember 4, 2015 at 3:29 AM

    good

    Reply
  31. Avatar Ratan Singh RajpurohitNovember 4, 2015 at 3:36 AM

    Quick Heal Total Security is good for PC

    Reply
  32. Avatar Ratan Singh RajpurohitNovember 4, 2015 at 3:41 AM

    Please good comment for Quick Heal

    Reply
  33. Avatar Ratan Singh RajpurohitNovember 4, 2015 at 3:43 AM

    good for pc

    Reply
  34. Avatar himanshu ptelNovember 4, 2015 at 4:02 AM

    i love quick heal

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  35. Printing blog should be allowed.

    Reply
  36. Avatar Saurabh SoniNovember 4, 2015 at 7:43 AM

    Very nice quick heal

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  37. Avatar subir nandiNovember 4, 2015 at 7:56 AM

    not scan

    Reply
  38. Avatar vinay ahirwarNovember 4, 2015 at 8:32 AM

    i am using old version please apply me new version

    Reply
  39. Avatar sushil kumar singhNovember 4, 2015 at 8:38 AM

    Very nice antivirus I’m fully satisfied this Antivirus.

    Reply
  40. Avatar Anoop PandayNovember 4, 2015 at 8:49 AM

    pls upgrade my antivirus because could not work properly

    Reply
  41. Avatar dinesh sharmaNovember 4, 2015 at 8:53 AM

    Give us the solution how to remove it

    Reply
    • Rahul Thadani Rahul ThadaniNovember 4, 2015 at 10:49 AM

      Hi Dinesh,

      The malware that is recognized and detected by Quick Heal is dealt with in the background. If there is some specific action needed by you, a notification will reach you.

      Regards.

      Reply
  42. Avatar yashwanth reddyNovember 4, 2015 at 9:00 AM

    quick heal anti virus has a good virus stopping power

    Reply
  43. Avatar yashwanth reddyNovember 4, 2015 at 9:02 AM

    it has very nice healing power

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  45. Avatar Anil SinghalNovember 4, 2015 at 9:22 AM

    Automaticaally upgrade newverson

    Reply
  46. upadate availble, but not updated to new version

    Reply
  47. Avatar JUSTUS GITHINJI WANJOHINovember 4, 2015 at 9:37 AM

    Good advice

    Reply
  48. i m using quickheal pro verson 2014 do u upgred with letest 20150:::::

    Reply
  49. Avatar SAHIL CHOPRANovember 4, 2015 at 9:54 AM

    Very nice quick heal

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  50. Avatar PANCHAL YAMALKUMAR JNovember 4, 2015 at 10:00 AM

    NO

    Reply
  51. got a recent ad ware and malware which redirect my web to a infected web site name go.myimgt.com/sc.php this is very dangerous by the help of a quick heal technical engineer it is possible to remove that malware completely from my network thanks to quick heal.

    Reply
  52. Avatar Pratap MukhiaNovember 4, 2015 at 11:08 AM

    got a recent ad ware and malware which redirect my web to a infected web site name go.This is very dangerous by the help of a quick heal technical engineer it is possible to remove that malware completely from my network thanks to quick heal.

    Reply
  53. yes remove

    Reply
  54. Thanks..

    for keeping our computers running smoothly..
    and also for sending articles and posts..

    Reply
  55. Avatar Indrajit AdhikaryNovember 4, 2015 at 9:06 PM

    pls upgrade my antivirus because could not properly

    Reply
  56. Sir most of the time your service is not doing proper work. …incoming and outgoing call drop..even most of the time required quick heal password. ..and massage came like ur replace sim so mobile blocked…………I am harras due to that service
    Can I get better service. …or uninstll quick heal. ….reply. ….

    Reply
  57. hi,Rahul please help me to update malware virus to solve

    Reply
  58. Avatar venkateswaraobanavathuFebruary 18, 2016 at 8:05 PM

    how can updats now

    Reply