Cloud Hosting

Seattle, June 24, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- WatchGuard Technologies, a global leader in network security and intelligence, secure Wi-Fi, multi-factor authentication and advanced endpoint protection, today announced the release of its Internet Security Report for Q1 2020. For the first time ever, this report includes data on the percentage of malware in the wild delivered via encrypted HTTPS connections. WatchGuards threat intelligence shows that 67% of all malware in Q1 was delivered via HTTPS, so organizations without security solutions capable of inspecting encrypted traffic will miss two-thirds of incoming threats. Additionally, 72% of encrypted malware was classified as zero day (meaning no antivirus signature exists for it, and it will evade signature-based protections). These findings show that HTTPS inspection and advanced behavior-based threat detection and response solutions are now requirements for every security-conscious organization. The report also includes a special section detailing the impact of COVID-19 on the threat landscape.

Some organizations are reluctant to set up HTTPS inspection due to the extra work involved, but our threat data clearly shows that a majority of malware is delivered through encrypted connections and that letting traffic go uninspected is simply no longer an option, said Corey Nachreiner, chief technology officer at WatchGuard. As malware continues to become more advanced and evasive, the only reliable approach to defense is implementing a set of layered security services, including advanced threat detection methods and HTTPS inspection.

WatchGuards Internet Security Report prepares midmarket businesses, the service providers that support them, and the end users that work for them with data on the trends, research and best practices they need to defend against modern security threats. Here are the key findings from the Q1 2020 report:

Third-party testing has found that WatchGuard products consistently maintain high throughput when inspecting HTTPS traffic. Many competitive products show a significant degradation in performance in this scenario. For example, an independent test performed by Miercom found that the Firebox M370 outperformed competitive products while inspecting HTTPS traffic with full security services enabled.

The findings in WatchGuardsInternet Security Reportsare drawn from anonymized Firebox Feed data from active WatchGuard appliances whose owners have opted in to share data to support the Threat Labs research efforts. Today, over 44,000 appliances worldwide contribute threat intelligence data to the report. In Q1 2020, they blocked over 32,148,519 malware variants in total (730 samples per device) and more than 1,660,000 network attacks (38 attacks per device).

The complete report includes key defensive best practices that organizations of all sizes can use to protect themselves in todays threat landscape and a detailed analysis of how the COVID-19 pandemic and associated shift to working from home affected the cyber security landscape.

About WatchGuard Technologies, Inc.

WatchGuard Technologies, Inc. is a global leader in network security, secure Wi-Fi, multi-factor authentication, advanced endpoint protection, and network intelligence. The companys award-winning products and services are trusted around the world by nearly 10,000 security resellers and service providers to protect more than 80,000 customers. WatchGuards mission is to make enterprise-grade security accessible to companies of all types and sizes through simplicity, making WatchGuard an ideal solution for midmarket businesses and distributed enterprises. The company is headquartered in Seattle, Washington, with offices throughout North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and Latin America. To learn more, visit WatchGuard.com.

For additional information, promotions and updates, follow WatchGuard on Twitter@WatchGuardonFacebook or on theLinkedIn Companypage. Also, visit our InfoSec blog, Secplicity, for real-time information about the latest threats and how to cope with them atwww.secplicity.org.Subscribe to The 443 Security Simplified podcastatSecplicity.org, or wherever you find your favorite podcasts.

WatchGuard is a registered trademark of WatchGuard Technologies, Inc. All other marks are property of their respective owners.

Read the original here:
WatchGuard Technologies Report Finds Two-Thirds of Malware is Encrypted, Invisible Without HTTPS Inspection - GlobeNewswire