The extremely dangerous vulnerability with the name Bash / ShellShock dominated the information about his landscape malware for the third quarter of 2014. Alarm has been raised among security experts as criminals can easily exploit the Bash vulnerability, gaining full access in the functional system of many popular devices such as routers and wireless access points.
In addition to the above, Kaspersky Lab's Worldwide Research and Analysis Team has discovered two digital espionage campaigns that hit more than 2.800 major targets in over 45 countries around the world. At the same time, the geographical distribution of non-targeted mass attacks is genuinely global. Indicatively, it is worth noting that attacks with mobile malware were detected in 205 countries.
The third quarter in numbers
- More than a billion malicious attacks were blocked by Kaspersky Lab's computers and mobile devices. This size is increased by 33,1% compared to the previous quarter
- Two digital espionage campaigns (Crouching Yeti and Epic Turla) affected high profile victims from at least 10 industries such as government agencies, embassies, military bodies, research organizations and IT companies
- 74.500 new malware samples were added to the Kaspersky Lab collection. This size is increased by 14,4% compared to the second quarter
- Over 7.000 mobile banking Trojans were traced in the third quarter. This number is 3,4 times higher compared to the previous quarter
- Attacks with bank Trojan were detected in 70 countries, while the second quarter was found in just 31 countries
«Στο τρίτο τρίμηνο, οι λειτουργίες web antivirus ενεργοποιήθηκαν τουλάχιστον μία φορά στους υπολογιστές του ενός τρίτου των χρηστών, όταν αυτοί «σέρφαραν» στο Διαδίκτυο. Εμφανίστηκε, λοιπόν, μια αύξηση, ενώ το μέγεθος αυτό μειωνόταν τον τελευταίο χρόνο. Συγκεκριμένα, στο τρίτο τρίμηνο του 2013 είχε διαμορφωθεί στο 34,1%, το πρώτο τρίμηνο του 2014 έπεσε στο 33,2% και από την αρχή του δεύτερου τριμήνου έχει σταθεροποιηθεί στο 29,5%. Η εξέλιξη αυτή οφείλεται σε αρκετούς παράγοντες. Κατ' αρχάς, τα προγράμματα περιήγησης και οι μηχανές αναζήτησης άρχισαν να συμβάλουν στην αντιμετώπιση των κακόβουλων ιστοσελίδων. Επιπλέον, σημειώθηκαν λιγότερες επιθέσεις που αφορούσαν «πακέτα εκμετάλλευσης ευπαθειών», έπειτα από τις συλλήψεις αρκετών προγραμματιστών. Ωστόσο, θα ήταν αφελές να περιμένουμε μια απότομη μείωση της χρήσης των exploits. Exploits remain the primary choice of malware delivery methods for targeted attacks,” said Maria Garnaeva, Security Researcher in Kaspersky Lab's Global Research and Analysis Group.
the good news
Η Kaspersky Lab συμμετείχε στη συμμαχία που σχηeyeσαν διωκτικές αρχές και κλαδικοί φορείς, η οποία συντονίζεται από την Εθνική Εγκληματολογική Υπηρεσία της Βρετανίας (National Crime Agency – NCA), με στόχο the suppression of the infrastructure behind Trojan Shylock. Like other well-known bank Trojans (e.g. Zeus, SpyEye and Carberp), the Shylock is a man-in-the-browser attack, which is specifically designed to intercept data access to bank accounts from bank customers' computers. When in action, Shylock transfers money from user accounts to the pockets of digital criminals.
How an expert "hacked" his home
A security researcher from Kaspersky Lab has conducted a search in his home to see if it was truly digital safe. He examined several devices, such as network-connected storage devices, a smart TV, a router, and a satellite receiver, to see if they were vulnerable to digital attacks. The results were impressive. The researcher has detected 14 vulnerabilities in storage devices, one on smart TV and several potentially hidden remote control functions on the router.
The origin of digital attacks
Major changes have occurred in the "sources of origin" of digital threats. In the second quarter, Germany, the US, the Netherlands, Russia and Canada were the top five. In the third quarter, the US recorded a large rise (11,2 percentage points) and was at the top of the list with 33%. Germany fell to third place (13,5%) while the Netherlands was in second place (18%). Ukraine ranked fifth (4%), displacing Canada out of pent. Russia held the fourth place with 9%.
The full version of Kaspersky Lab's report on digital threats in the third quarter of 2014 is available at Securelist.
An interactive one χάρτης that provides a visual representation of digital security incidents around the world in real time, is available here.
