Overall, two out of three threats people encounter online today use social engineering techniques, taking advantage of human weaknesses, the report finds.

Targets receive an email from senders claiming to be from a ransomware group, like “Silent Ransom”, or “Lockffit”, addressing them by their full name.

There is an increased risk of ransomware attacks in 2023 threatening to leak people's and businesses’ valuable data if ransom demands aren’t paid. 

Norton LifeLock has changed its name to Gen Digital Inc following the merger of NortonLifeLock and Avast.

“An interesting trend we observed this quarter was cyber gangs actively crowdsourcing and paying people to support their criminal activities."

More than a third (35%) of New Zealanders encounter scams on a weekly basis, according to research commissioned by Avast.

Avast, released its Q2/2022 Threat Report today, revealing a significant increase in global ransomware attacks, up 24% from Q1/2022.

Avast One has extended its cross-platform support by adding its Online Safety Score feature to both the Mac and iOS platforms of Avast One.

People in countries with more digital freedom face fewer cybersecurity risks and stronger privacy regulations.

Avast has discovered an online community of minors constructing, exchanging and spreading malware, including ransomware and a mix of information stealers and cryptominers.

"While businesses are less at risk of encountering a threat than consumers, they more often than not have more to lose if they do fall victim."

"SecureKey is highly complementary to Avast’s prior work in identity and together we will take our offer to the next level, accelerating innovation."

Avast has revealed the top 10 malware types putting Australian users at risk of having their personal data and money stolen and losing control of their devices.

New research from Avast has revealed that older and younger generations are being targeted by different online threats based on the primary device that they use to go online.

Avast has announced a new firewall will be packaged with its latest free and premium product updates for Windows.

Phishing was one of the highest incident categories from October to December last year.

More than 150 premium SMS scam applications have been discovered as part of a campaign dubbed “UltimaSMS” using Instagram and Tik Tok.

Daria Loi will serve as head of innovation, Siggi Stefnisson as head of threat labs, and Andrew Gardner as vice president of research and AI.

“Each one of these open instances is a data breach event waiting to happen and can pose critical business, legal and regulatory risks if they happen."

According to Avast, many New Zealanders are exposing themselves to unnecessary online risks and cyber threats through careless digital practices.

There is an increased risk for cyberattacks on businesses since the start of the pandemic.

The companies' boards believe the merger has ‘compelling strategic and financial rationale’, and creates an opportunity to create a new cyber-safety business.

"The risk ratio has increased worldwide for all malware attacks."

Digital security and privacy company Avast, and RiskIQ, an internet security intelligence company, have announced a threat intelligence partnership.