9 rising malware trends: infostealers now behind 75% of stolen credentials
ChuckDBrooks · x · 2026-10-20
A CSO Online feature maps nine rising (and declining) malware trends, arguing that advances in AI and shifts in computing infrastructure are accelerating cybercriminal tooling and tactics.
Key points:
- Infostealers commoditizing initial access: stealers like Lumma Stealer, StealC, and RisePro have surged over the past 18 months and now account for 75% of all stolen credentials per vendor Immersive, harvesting browser cookies, VPN credentials, MFA tokens, and crypto wallet data for resale on dark-web markets.
- Ransomware is shifting toward more targeted approaches, while older broad-brush methods fall out of fashion.
- The piece urges security professionals to keep up with these evolving techniques as the attacker-defender cat-and-mouse game intensifies.
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