Financial News

Four out of 10 mobile phones vulnerable to cyber-attacks, reveals new report

Products You May Like

The reason can be attributed to some flaws in chipset that need urgent patching.

Cyber-attacks have increased significantly in the last one year, which can be attributed to low safety interfaces as more and more people work from home. With malware increasing and numerous reports on data breach surfacing, some alarming details have come out. A report by Check Point has revealed that almost all organisations have been at risk from mobile malware in the year 2020. Around 93 per cent of these attacks had device networks as the originating source tricking users into malware installation. The malware is usually installed via infected websites or URLs and they attempt to steal users’ credentials and other crucial information.

“Forty six percent of organisations had at least one employee download a malicious mobile application that threatened their organisation’s networks and data in 2020,” said the Check Point Mobile Security report.

Related News

Although these attacks have always been there, a significant rise was seen since last year as people worked remotely. This resulted in 97 per cent of organisations dealing with mobile threats from several attack vectors. In times like this, having mobile security on priority becomes imperative.

What’s even more shocking is that 4 out of every 10 mobile phones or 40 percent of the world’s mobile devices” are inherently vulnerable to cyber-attacks.” The reason can be attributed to some flaws in chipset that need urgent patching. Additionally, a 15 per cent increase in banking Trojan activity was seen last year as users’ mobile banking credentials were staring at risk of being stolen. Mobile Remote Access Trojans (MRATs), banking trojans, and premium dialers have been hiding under the layers of COVID-19 related information and have been spreading mobile malwares.

“Individuals’ mobiles are a very attractive target for various APT groups, such as Iran’s Rampant Kitten, which has conducted elaborate and sophisticated targeted attacks to spy on users and steal sensitive data,” the report added.

Neatsun Ziv, VP Threat Prevention at Check Point Software highlighted that more complex threats are now coming into play as cybercriminals continue to evolve as well as adapt their techniques that can exploit growing reliance on mobiles. Ziv further said that all enterprises will have to focus on adopting mobile security solutions that can seamlessly protect devices from the advanced cyber threats.

Meanwhile, users have also been advised to remain careful regarding the content they consume and apps they download. One should only download apps from the official app stores to mitigate these kinds of risks.

Get live Stock Prices from BSE, NSE, US Market and latest NAV, portfolio of Mutual Funds, Check out latest IPO News, Best Performing IPOs, calculate your tax by Income Tax Calculator, know market’s Top Gainers, Top Losers & Best Equity Funds. Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.

Financial Express is now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel and stay updated with the latest Biz news and updates.

Products You May Like