Box Shield’s malware detection capabilities help IT and security teams identify potentially malicious content and stop its spread across devices, while still allowing users to preview the file and work in online editors.
In October 2021, we introduced malware deep scan in Box Shield, which leverages the deep learning technology and looks inside the file to identify malicious traits in near real-time. The deep scan capability alongside the reputation scan against leading third-party threat intelligence databases helps enterprises better discover and contain the spread of malware before it becomes a data breach or causes a significant loss of business continuity.
As remote working becomes commonplace, bad actors are increasingly opting for Microsoft Office files to distribute malware. A new report from cybersecurity firm SonicWall claims it witnessed a 67% spike in the distribution of malicious MS Office files. Many of the malware variants that are being distributed this way are brand new, SonicWall further claims. Its analysis of the threat landscape unveiled a 74% increase in the detection of entirely new malware variants, year-on-year. Last year in 2020, a total of 268,362 never-before-seen malware were identified, the report said.
And that’s why we’re adding support for Microsoft Office files and other file types, further increasing Box Shield’s ability to detect more sophisticated and never seen malware. The new files types supported with this release are:
- Microsoft Word: doc, docx, docm
- Microsoft Excel: xls, xlsx, xlsm
- Microsoft Powerpoint: ppt, pptx, pptxm
- Adobe Flash: swf
Read more about using threat detection capabilities here.