# Infostealer malware hits 72% of firms studied

> Swedish cybersecurity firm Outpost24 finds that infostealer malware exposed credentials at nearly three-quarters of 4,824 companies, though most stolen logins came from old breach dumps rather than fresh infections.
- Title: Infostealer malware hits 72% of firms studied · The Next Web
- Summary: Swedish cybersecurity firm Outpost24 finds that infostealer malware exposed credentials at nearly three-quarters of 4,824 companies, though most stolen…
- Keywords: outpost24, infostealer malware, credential exposure, cybersecurity, data breach, malware infections, The Next Web
- Source: The Next Web — https://thenextweb.com/news/infostealers-72-percent-organisations-exposed-credentials
- Author: Ana Maria Constantin
- Published: 2026-11-04T12:52:52+00:00
- Read time: 1 min
- Topics: outpost24, infostealer malware, credential exposure, cybersecurity, data breach, malware infections, technology, startups
## Malware reaches most firms
Infostealer malware exposed at least one employee or customer login at 72% of the 4,824 companies analysed across the US and Europe over the past year, according to research published by Swedish cybersecurity company Outpost24.
## Most logins are old
The study identified 31.5 million exposed credentials in total. Around 30.7 million, or 97% of the total, came from breach dumps and combolists, collections of previously leaked usernames and passwords circulated among cybercriminals.
## Fresh infections are rare
The remaining 844,000 credentials, fewer than 3% of the total, were extracted directly from infected devices using infostealer malware. These attacks also collect session cookies, which allow users to remain logged into services.
## Employee and customer accounts differ
At 41% of firms, at least one stolen credential was linked to a work email address, suggesting an employee's device had been infected. Another 31% had malware-related credentials linked exclusively to customer accounts.

> An infostealer doesn't stop at one password. It can take session cookies, saved credentials, and access to multiple accounts.
## Severity depends on context
Outpost24 advises security teams to treat an infostealer detection as a possible sign of wider compromise, not simply reset the password.A single infected employee laptop could give attackers access to active sessions inside company systems.

> Thousands of stolen customer logins tell a very different story from a handful of compromised employee accounts.
## Key takeaway

Infostealer malware exposed at least one login at 72% of 4,824 companies studied, but 97% of the 31.5 million exposed credentials came from old breach dumps, not fresh infections.