Cyber Attacks Jump 81 Percent, Target Mobile, Social Networks

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The number of malicious cyber attacks jumped 81 percent in 2011, according to new data from Symantec, with the firm noting a huge leap in mobile breaches, particularly on the Android OS.

 

Social networks, meanwhile, are the new frontier for cyber scammers as they move on from spam, which decreased by 20 percent last year.

 

"The very nature of these [social] networks makes users incorrectly assume they are not at risk and attackers are using these sites to target new victims," Symantec said in its annual Internet Security Threat Report. "Due to social engineering techniques and the viral nature of social networks, it's much easier for threats to spread from one person to the next."

 

Overall, Symantec blocked 5.5 billion malicious attacks in 2011, which was an 81 percent increase from the year before. The company identified 403 million unique malware variants, while the number of Web attacks that were blocked on a daily basis jumped 36 percent.

 

With more and more users picking up smartphones and tablets, it should be no surprise that cyber scammers made mobile a major target.

 

Mobile vulnerabilities increased by 93 percent in 2011, Symantec said, with a "rise in threats" that targeted Android.

 

"2011 was the first year that mobile malware presented a tangible threat to businesses and consumers," Symantec said. "These threats are designed for activities including data collection, the sending of content, and user tracking."

 

Scammers, meanwhile, are no longer only targeting large businesses and high-profile executives when looking to get their hands on private data.

 

"More than 50 percent of such attacks target organizations with fewer than 2,500 employees, and almost 18 percent target companies with fewer than 250 employees," Symantec found. "These organizations may be targeted because they are in the supply chain or partner ecosystem of a larger company and because they are less well-defended."

 

About 58 percent of the attacks went after low-profile targets, like those in human resources, public relations, and sales - in part because they are easy to identify online.

 

Overall, about 1.1 million identities were stolen per data breach in 2011. Hacks alone exposed about 187 million identities last year, though lost devices with personal information installed were the most frequent cause of data breaches. Lost or stolen smartphones, USB keys, or backup devices exposed 18.5 million identities last year, Symantec found.

 

Source: PCMag