Ransomware prevalent in cloud-based malware

Cloud-based filesharing, collaboration and social networking applications are common vectors for malware infections, a large portion of of which are ransomware delivery vehicles, according to a report released today.

Javascript exploits and droppers, Microsoft Office macros, and PDF exploits make up 43.7 percent of the total detected cloud malware, said Jamie Barnett, CMO at Netskope, the company that released the report.

“These are typical ransomware delivery vehicles,” she said.

Cloud-based applications such as Dropbox can be used to spread malware in a couple of different ways. Attackers can upload the infected files to the cloud service, then share them with victims. Since there are many legitimate users of these services, they are not typically blocked by enterprises.

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