Pandalabs, the anti-malware laboratory at Panda Security, takes a look at some trends in the billion-dollar cybercrime industry and gathers the main data points for its quarterly report.
Ransomware
Over the course of 2016, groups of cybercriminals dedicated to ransomware earned over 1 billion dollars. In the first quarter of 2017, there was no lack of new families of ransomware created, such as the “WYSIWYE” attack, a ransomware with its own interface, or Popcorn Time, which sought the collaboration of its victims. A few ransomware attacks made their way into the physical world, as was the case with a hotel in Austria, whose electronic keycard system was hacked and guests were locked out of their rooms until the hotel paid the ransom.
Cybercrime
Cybercrime as a business is taking off. It is more professionalized than ever before, which means that highly specialized groups are forming in such fields as the creation and distribution of malware and exploits. A good example is RDPatcher, an attack discovered by PandaLabs whose purpose is to put the victims computer up for sale on the black market for use in a bot network.
Internet of Things (IoT)
In February, at the European Broadcasting Union Media Cyber Security Seminar, security consultant Rafael Scheel demonstrated an exploit he created that would allow an attacker to take control of a Smart TV using only a DDT signal.
Robots
The European Parliament has detailed a set of regulations for the relation between robots, citizens, and businesses. The goal of the new legal framework is to minimize the negative impacts that could result from the incorporation of robots into the workforce.
Cyberwarfare
More than ever before, cyberattacks and politics are becoming intertwined in a tight relationship. The German army has announced that it will form its own cyber-command center to reinforce its online defenses. But if there’s been one event in the world of cyberwarfare and cyberespionage that should be singled out for the year so far, it would be the CIA/Wikileaks case. In March, Wikileaks began to publish a series of documents under the title ‘Vault 7’, containing technical details and tools used by the CIA to break into smartphones, computers, and even Smart TVs.
Geographic Distribution
Asia and South America are the regions with the highest infection index. The rank of countries by percentage of devices attacked is topped by Indonesia (12.87%), Taiwan (9.21%) and Malaysia (8.01%). On the opposite end of the list, we find Denmark (0.65%), the Czech Republic (0.55%), and Finland (0.34%) with the lowest attack index – the UK has the 15th lowest ‘Real Risk’ infection rate of 1.29%.
Click the links for the full PandaLabs report and infographic.
