Kuala Lumpur (17 June 2014) – The biggest single-event sporting competition in the world, the ongoing 2014 FIFA World Cup that is held in Brazil this year is now at the centre of the world’s attention, including the prying eyes of cybercriminals. Trend Micro Incorporated’s (TYO: 4704; TSE: 4704) has created an online resource to help World Cup fans and attendees with tools and information they can use to protect themselves from cybercriminals looking to exploit victims and carry out schemes and tricks.
“Trend Micro recently published the first quarter’s security roundup for 2014 entitled “Cybercrime Hits the Unexpected” that sheds light into the cyber underground where creative cybercriminals continue to find new opportunities to commit their crimes. Greed is motivating cybercriminals to take a non-traditional approach in the selection of unlikely targets, such as advanced threats to Point-of-Sale (PoS) terminals, exploitation of disasters and significant world events. Our objective of creating the online resource is to help ensure the world will not have its virtual pockets picked by cybercriminals especially during this exciting World Cup season,” said Victor Lo, Regional Consulting Director, SEA Region, Trend Micro.
Live streaming links of the World Cup, video games, promotional draw emails and sales of the final match tickets were among the tactics used so far by eager cybercriminals. Information about these threats will be provided to the public via the online resource centre to help protect World Cup fans. The resource centre offers the most current information on the latest threats detected by Trend Micro’s threat defence experts and includes tips on what to avoid when receiving World Cup related offers, purchasing merchandise, email threats and malware disguised as videos or news stories. The resource centre also offers free software to help protect your computer or mobile device from malware and other threats.
During the first quarter of 2014, Trend Micro’s Q1 Security Roundup report revealed current events and news updates have become go-to social engineering bait of cybercriminals. This has become an unfortunately frequent occurrence – events like the Tohoku earthquake, Boston marathon and Typhoon Haiyan were all abused to spread various threats. The Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 tragic incident was also one such avenue that the cybercriminals took advantage of.
Trend Micro threat researchers also found that online banking malware continued to thrive with the emergence and modification of new malware families, each with different targets and varying anti-detection techniques. Malaysians were not spared from the online banking malware menace as the report indicated that we were among the top 10 countries most affected. Internet banking in Malaysia has grown significantly throughout the past few years alongside the rise of smart phones and tablets users. The Finance Ministry of Malaysia reported that the internet banking penetration rate was approximately half of the country’s population with 14.3 million individual subscribers on top of 300 thousand corporate subscribers as of June 2013.
Trend Micro’s Q1 Security Roundup report included key highlights below:
Mobile Threats: The mobile threat landscape continues to grow at an even faster pace than last year as the total number of mobile malware and high-risk apps grew to 2 million this quarter. The explosion of repackaged apps—those that have been maliciously tampered with to pass Android’s’ security features—also contributed to the huge spike in mobile malware and high-risk app volume growth.
Cybercrime and the Cybercriminal Underground: This quarter’s online banking malware volume significantly dropped from the end of 2013. This year’s first quarter number did not differ much from the same timeframe one year ago, and the high numbers at the close of last year could be attributed to the holiday season when cybercriminals pursue online shoppers.
Targeted Attack Campaigns and Cyber Attacks: Reports of PoS system infiltration in the United States, particularly in retail and hospitality, as well as insider threats targeting South Korean credit card companies highlighted the need for customized defence strategies.
Digital Life and the Internet of Everything: A new-generation of exploits took the app ecosystem by storm this quarter. These apps cater to users’ desire to anonymously share content, send off-the-record messages, and share media. Along with observing more social engineering scams, several devices in the Internet of Everything (IoE) market were scrutinized, as security researchers exposed gaping vulnerabilities.
“Organizations will continue to face attacks that will be targeted in nature, which could be directly aimed at the energy, financial, healthcare, and retail industries or critical infrastructure. To remain protected against these ever-evolving cyber threats, individual users and businesses alike must be diligent in using best practices when surfing the Web, especially when conducting online financial transactions,” continued Victor.
A blog post containing a roundup of World Cup-related threats seen so far can be viewed here: TrendLabs Security Intelligence Blog or go straight to http://about-threats.trendmicro.com/race-to-security for more details.
For the complete Trend Micro Q1 Security Roundup report, please visit: http://about-threats.trendmicro.com/us/security-roundup/2014/1Q/cybercrime-hits-the-unexpected
A blog post regarding the report can be viewed here: http://blog.trendmicro.com/cybercrime-hits-unexpected/
