The cell phone, on the way to being the main entry point for cyber threats

Already one of the most popular devices, the cell phone is on the way to become the main entry point for cyber threats; because they always travel with their owners and are therefore highly exposed, and because, unlike computers, they hardly have any security and protection packages installed.

This is how experts and specialized companies perceive it, that when making an analysis of the cyberthreats that have proliferated the most during 2021, and those that are likely to spread the most during 2022, always point to the mobile phone as the main purpose for which criminals are going to try to scam users.

It is already happening with malicious programs (malware) designed specifically to attack mobile phones, in which these programs manage to disguise themselves as a “legitimate” application to steal data – especially banking ones – from their devices, according to data from the multinational company. Entelgy sector, specialized in new technologies and cybersecurity.

This company has observed that the ransomware (programs designed to “hijack” and blackmail) have been the most prevalent cyberattacks in 2021 and they will be so again next year, and has had an impact on the multiplication of these risks due to the increasing digitization of society, also accelerated by the pandemic.

Your data highlights also the importance of phishing (the impersonation of an internet page by another practically identical one in which users enter their data and carry out transactions) or the relevance of “denial of service” attacks that seek to disable a server, a service or an infrastructure so that it stops working correctly.

Leaks, data breaches and information theft to obtain confidential data have also grown exponentially Because of COVID-19, criminals have targeted agencies and research centers to try to steal tracking, test or patient data.

In the same vein, the company Qualiteasy has stressed that the outbreak of the health crisis triggered a wave of cyberattacks and has pointed that attempts by “hackers” to steal data and confidential information from large companies have increased worldwide by 93 percent with respect to 2020 data.

A large part of this increase in attacks has been due to the hybrid work model (face-to-face and remote) as a consequence of the pandemic, according to this company, which has ensured that this system has had a negative impact on the efficiency of companies’ security systems.

“SMSishing”, a new way to attack cell phones

And after predicting that in 2022 “phishing” and “ransomware” will proliferate again, The company has warned that criminals are targeting their attacks on mobile phones and the rise of a new way of attacking users, the “SMSishing”, a sophisticated system that tries to deceive users and lead them to fraudulent sites by clicking on links that enter through text messages.

Data from a survey conducted by computer security company Eset highlight that 91 percent of companies have had to digitize some processes considered “critical”But half of them have not done any safety training for their employees.

The biggest challenge in hybrid work is to significantly expand the “attack surface”, according to this company, which has warned of the new risks posed by “migration” to the cloud, the use of misconfigured accounts and systems, and weak passwords, or that remote users do not work alone from home but use their computers in other places and connect to networks that may not be secure.

Among the cyberattacks with the greatest impact in 2021, this company has cited that 250,000 Microsoft mail servers suffered; the Facebook data leak, which exposed data from more than 500 million users; the attack on the Spanish State Public Employment Service (SEPE); the one suffered by the US Colonial Pipeline pipeline network that caused serious gasoline supply problems in the United States, or the one directed against the German multinational MediaMark on the eve of “Black Friday”.

The multinational in the cybersecurity sector Kaspersky has had an impact, by making its predictions about the main threats in 2022, where mobile phones are exposed to many sophisticated attacks and has advanced that Supply chain attacks will proliferate as criminals exploit vendor security weaknesses to engage your customers.

And it has also agreed that, given the foreseeable continuity of teleworking, cybercriminals will continue to use employees’ home computers without protection or without patches as a way to penetrate corporate networks. (I)