Given how widespread malware has become, new “families” of each type are being developed. Qbot, a family of malware that is used to steal data, falls under this category.
Qbot’s history
As is sometimes the case with malware, Qbot (also referred to as Qakbot, Quakbot, or Pinkslipbot) wasn’t identified until it was actually spotted in the wild. In the context of cybersecurity, the phrase “in the wild” describes a situation in which malware spreads unintentionally among targeted devices. As a kind of malware, Qbot is suspected to have existed at least as far back as 2007, making it much older than many of the more well-known varieties now in use.
Simply because they are ineffective against new technology, several types of malware from the 2000s are no longer in use. But Qbot stands out in this case. Qbot has been running for at least 16 years as of the time of writing, an astonishing longevity for malware.