Mobile banking malware is becoming an increasingly common threat with new research from Check Point revealing that there has been a 50 percent increase in attacks this year when compared to the first half of 2018.
The firm's Cyber Attack Trends: 2019 Mid-Year Report is based on data from its ThreatCloud intelligence collected between January and June of 2019 and the report sheds light on the key tactics cybercriminals are employing to attack businesses.
Check Point provided further insight into what mobile banking malware is capable of in a blog post, saying:
- Major rise in password-stealing malware detected
- What is malware and how can you remove it forever
- How a piece of Brazilian malware became a global cybercrime export
“With over 50% increase in attacks when compared to 2018, banking malware has evolved to become a very common mobile threat. Today, banking malware is capable of stealing payment data, credentials and funds from victims’ bank accounts, and new versions of these malware are ready for massive distribution by anyone that’s willing to pay.”
Banking malware
Mobile banking malware has become more prevalent as a result of the greater availability of malware-building kits for sale on the Dark Web according to Check Point's report which says: “In this way, the builders of mobile bankers, such as Asacub and Anubis, can allow the creation of new versions of these malware, ready for massive distribution.”
The report also found that the banking trojan Ramnit (28%), the Dyre variant Trickbot (21%) and the trojan Ursnif (10%) were the most popular banking malware during the first half of this year.
Check Point also highlighted the fact that cybercriminals have begun to adapt techniques and methods from the general threat landscape to specifically target mobile devices and users.
Cyberattacks focused on mobile devices are likely to continue to increase as attackers are very aware of the amount of sensitive personal data that consumers store on their smartphones.
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Via Computer Weekly
