In 2014 Kaspersky Lab experts saw considerable growth in the number of malicious attacks on user computers and mobile devices, further development of financial malware and a change in the vectors of web attacks. Based on the company’s statistics, 2014 in figures looks the following way:
Every day Kaspersky Lab’s Anti-Malware Research team processes 325,000 new malicious files. That is up 10,000 a day compared with last year - and 125,000 a day more than in 2012.
Every day more than 1.6 million different files are processed through Kaspersky Lab’s Anti-Malware Research team. Almost 20% of these, that is to say one in five, is dangerous. There has been a 3.17% increase in the numbers of malicious files detected this year compared with the 2013 figure. The previous 12-month period, from 2012-2013, saw a growth of more than 50%. According to Kaspersky Lab’s experts this sharp reduction in the growth rate reflects the significant change in tactics that malicious users are now deploying to infect PCs.
“We are now observing a very interesting trend in the malicious landscape. More and more often criminals use spear-phishing emails: spam email targeting a very specific group, such as gamers or online banking users. Previously this technique was almost exclusively used by advanced threat operators but now spear-phishing has been commercialized for use by less skillful cybercriminals. This allows them to perform less massive and less noticeable attacks. However our security solutions consistently detect these types of attacks,” said Vyacheslav Zakorzhevsky, Head of the Anti-Malware Research team at Kaspersky Lab.
“2011 was the year of mobile malware formation, especially on Android-based devices; 2012 was when they developed and 2013 was when they reached maturity. In 2014 mobile malware focused on financial issues: the number of mobile banking Trojans was nine times greater than in the previous year and developing in this area is continuing at an alarming rate,” said Roman Unuchek, Senior Mobile Malware Analyst at Kaspersky Lab.
The fraudsters who specialize in mobile financial malware are probably inspired by their experienced “colleagues” who have been stealing money via personal computers for years. Zeus remains the most widespread banking Trojan with ChePro and Lohmys coming second and third. Three quarters of attacks targeting users’ money were carried out using banking malware but these are not the only financial threats. Bitcoin wallet theft was the second most popular banking threat (14%). Bitcoin mining software (10%) is another threat related to the crypto currency. It uses computing resources to generate bitcoins.
Maria Garnaeva, Security Expert at Kaspersky Lab’s Global Research and Analysis Team, said: “One of the most effective ways to deliver malware to user computers is to exploit vulnerabilities in Oracle Java and in browsers such as Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, etc. In addition, cybercriminals continue to use exploits for Adobe Reader vulnerabilities. These infection techniques remain popular simply because social engineering techniques are still effective. Each year we see how cybercriminals are creative more inventive ways of luring in their victims. That is why recipients are still willing to read a seemingly harmless e-mail from an unexpected source and then open attachments or follow links that expose them to malicious programs.”
The full report is available on the Securelist website.