Emotet is malware that can install additional malware on systems, steals passwords from browsers and email clients and is very difficult to remove. A computer infection with Emotet malware often comes about through a phishing attack by email. In doing so, the victim is tempted to click on a malicious link, for example in a PDF file, or to open a Word file containing macros. The cyber criminals behind Emotet used different types of "bait" to trick unsuspecting users into opening malicious attachments. For example, last year there were plenty of email attachments with information about COVID-19. The danger with Emotet is that it opens the door to other types of malware. Large criminal groups were given access to some of those systems for a fee to install their own malware. Concrete examples of this are the financial malware Trickbot and the ransomware Ryuk. The damage caused by Emotet is in the hundreds of millions of euros worldwide. A major international police operation took the servers behind Emotet offline.
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