Kaspersky Lab data shows that the number of malicious programs targeting mobile devices has more than doubled between August 2009 and December 2010. In 2010, over 65% more new threats targeting mobile devices were detected than in the previous year; and over 1,000 variants from 153 different families of mobile threats were included in Kaspersky Lab’s databases by the end of 2010.
As noted by Denis Maslennikov, a Senior Malware Analyst at Kaspersky Lab and author of Mobile Malware Evolution: An Overview, Part 4, “The list of platforms targeted by malicious programs expanded considerably in 2010.”
The growing popularity of the Android platform has inevitably drawn the cybercriminals attention: in August 2010, the first malicious program targeting Android was detected, and since then, that number has reached 15 programs from a total of 7 families. The first threats targeting Apple’s iPhone OS also appeared during this last reporting period, but infected only devices that had been jailbroken in order to install third-party games and other software not manufactured by Apple. Most mobile threats continue to target the Java 2 Micro Edition (J2ME) platform, which is supported by a huge number of mobile devices. That means it is not only smartphones that are at risk of infection, but basic mobile phones as well. The second most-targeted platform is Symbian, with Python in third place.
The distribution of variants of detected threats, by platform
“The use of SMS Trojans is still the easiest and most effective means by which malicious users can earn money. The reason is relatively simple: any mobile device, be it a smartphone or a basic mobile phone, has a direct connection to its owner’s money via their mobile account. It is this ‘direct connection’ that cybercriminals actively exploit,” explains Denis Maslennikov. Read the rest of this entry »
Petaling Jaya, March 17, 2011 – Kaspersky Lab, a leading developer of secure content and threat management solutions, signs a partnership deal with AirAsia’s online store, AirAsiaMegastore.com in contributing two million Kaspersky Anti-Virus (KAV) 2011 6-months licenses for its members, here today.
The partnership between Kaspersky Lab and AirAsiaMegastore.com kicked off in December 2010 for six months period. However, due to overwhelming response from AirAsiaMegastore.com members, the partnership is extended to August 2011 with the objective to reach more people to be protected in cyberspace.
The KAV 2011 redemption, which worth RM34.50 each, is applicable to AirAsiaMegastore.com members in 10 countries in South East Asia region; Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore, Philippines, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Brunei Darussalam.
According to IDC, half of Malaysia’s Internet users had conducted online transactions with the total valued at more than USD8 million in 2009. The figure is expected to be higher now, with the rise in broadband penetration to 55% as of December 8 2010, making the partnership a timely addition to the online retail scene. Read the rest of this entry »
Kaspersky Lab, a leading developer of secure content and threat management solutions, predicts that malware will continue to become ever more sophisticated and professional in nature, as the company demonstrated at CeBIT 2011. Mimicking the operations of conventional businesses, an entire underground industry has sprung up, with corporate structures and procedures comparable to the real thing– including partner events, marketing tools and forums. The focus is firmly on meeting customers’ needs. To add to this danger, mobile devices are increasingly being used to access the Internet, and make sensitive online banking transactions.
Moreover, the use of mobile devices is now an integral part of modern corporate communications. However, while users are quite aware of the threat that cyberspace poses to personal computers, this understanding of the risks is sadly lacking when it comes to mobile services, for example, less than a quarter of users in Europe feel insecure when using Internet banking. This statistic resulted from a survey conducted by Kaspersky Lab in which more than 1,600 mobile device users were asked to evaluate the likelihood of infection when surfing the Internet. Read the rest of this entry »
Kaspersky Lab’s latest monthly report on malware activity highlights the current popularity of using drive-by attacks to infect users’ computers. These attacks are particularly dangerous because they take place without the user’s knowledge and can be initiated from legitimate websites that have been hacked by cybercriminals. Visitors to infected sites are redirected to web pages containing script downloaders. Various types of exploits that launch script downloaders are quite often used to download malware to users’ computers.
In February, the majority of drive-by attacks made use of Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) to store some of the data for script downloaders. This new, enhanced method makes it much harder for many antivirus solutions to detect malicious scripts and allows cybercriminals to download exploits without them being detected. Read the rest of this entry »
Kaspersky Lab, a leading developer of secure content and threat management solutions, has been awarded Russian patents for ten innovative new data protection technologies.
Russian Patent No.101217 covers a system that accelerates file scanning during emulation. Kaspersky Lab’s new technology uses a dedicated accelerator to execute part of the emulated program’s instructions on the CPU of the local computer. This approach considerably reduces the emulation time of secure commands. Read the rest of this entry »
Kaspersky Lab, a leading developer of secure content and threat management solutions, announces that it has been ranked among the Top 50 Most Innovative Companies worldwide by U.S. business magazine Fast Company. Kaspersky Lab took 32nd place in the ranking, ahead of many global giants of IT industry.
Overall, Fast Company recognizes 350-plus companies, including more than 75 non–U.S. businesses. Fast Company’s editorial team evaluated information on thousands of businesses across the globe to create the World’s Most Innovative Companies issue. The end result is a package that dares to be different, emphasizing not just revenue growth and profit margins but also progressive business models and an ethos of creativity. Read the rest of this entry »
The emergence of Email-Worm.Win32.Hlux was arguably the main event in January. This new mail worm spreads via emails containing malicious links that prompt users to install a fake Flash Player, purportedly to view an e-card. The link leads to a dialog window that asks if the user agrees to download a file. Regardless of the response, the worm attempts to penetrate the system. In addition to propagating via email, Hlux also has bot functionality and adds infected computers to a botnet before connecting to its command center and executing its commands, which are primarily directed at sending pharmaceutical spam.
Cybercriminals often exploit the popularity of an online service or product. In January, a web page was detected that offered users the chance to install an updated version of Microsoft Internet Explorer and to activate it by sending an SMS to a premium-rate number. These fraudulent web pages are detected as Hoax.HTML.Fraud.e, and appear in 17th place in the Top 20 most malicious programs on the Internet. The popularity of Kaspersky Lab products has not escaped the notice of cybercriminals either. January’s Top 20 most popular programs detected on users’ computers included two potentially unwanted programs (PUPs) belonging to the Kiser family – in 9th and 11th places – that allow some Kaspersky Lab products to be used without being activated. Read the rest of this entry »