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Mobile threats boom in META

Kirsten Doyle
By Kirsten Doyle, ITWeb contributor.
Budapest, 23 Apr 2014
The rise in mobile threats could, in part, be due to the huge increase in the number of Android devices in the region, says Kaspersky Lab's Sergey Novikov.
The rise in mobile threats could, in part, be due to the huge increase in the number of Android devices in the region, says Kaspersky Lab's Sergey Novikov.

In the Middle East, Turkey and Africa (META) region, mobile threats are now considered one of the biggest security risks.

During 2013, Kaspersky Lab's Security Network reported four times more mobile malware incidents involving META users than the previous year.

This could, in part, be due to the huge increase in the number of Android devices in the region, explained Sergey Novikov, deputy director, Global Research & Analysis Team at Kaspersky Lab.

Moreover, he said, the Middle East has a high BYOD adoption rate, and governments and other sensitive organisations, enterprises and universities permit users and employees to access their internal networks using personal devices.

The total number of mobile malware samples in Kaspersky Lab's collection is over 149 000, of which the vast majority (104 000) were found in 2013. October on its own saw almost 20 000 modifications, half the total the company found during the whole of the previous year.

Malicious software that is distributed via social media, Twitter and Facebook in particular, increased dramatically in the Middle East and Turkey due in part to the rise in number of social network users. He said currently, 88% of the online population in Middle East uses social networks on a daily basis.

In terms of applications exploited in the META region, Oracle Java, VLC Player, GOM Player, and Winamp media players, WinRAR, and Adobe Reader/Acrobat were the most targeted, and updating software remains an issue for both corporate and home users, added Novikov.

In addition, banking Trojans that contain hardcoded online banking URLs for banks in the Middle East, Turkey and Africa have become more prevalent.

META's banking sector has been targeted many times, for example, the fraudulent card attack against Bank of Muscat and Ras Al-Khaimah bank in the UAE. Those examples saw attackers hacking a prepaid debit card system and raising the balances and withdrawal limits for certain cards before using them to withdraw approximately $45 million from ATMs in 24 countries, the company said.

The Dexter malware attacks on points of sale terminals, in SA that compromised the payment card systems of thousands of shops, restaurants and hotels and causing massive financial damage, would be another example.

Speaking of hacktivism and politically motivated attacks, Kaspersky Lab said the past three years have seen these attacks becoming more widespread in the region. "Hacktivist techniques have evolved and now include tools which vary between DDoS, Web defacement, social media account hijacks, APT attacks and Botnets in the region."

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