One Billion More: Kaspersky Lab Reports on Cyber Threats in 2014

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WOBURN, MA – December 8, 2014 — /BackupReview.info/ — Today Kaspersky Lab released its evaluation on the level of cyber threat in 2014, finding that one billion more malicious attacks on computers and mobile devices were blocked by the Company’s products in 2014 than in 2013. The report also shows that throughout the year, Kaspersky Lab saw considerable growth in the number of malicious attacks on user computers and mobile devices, further development of financial malware and a change in the vectors of Web attacks.

To watch the Kaspersky Lab video “Hacked off in 2014: the cyber-battle for cash and privacy,” please click here:

Video: Hacked off in 2014: the cyber-battle for cash and privacy

2014 in figures

• 6.2 billion malicious attacks on user computers and mobile devices were blocked by Kaspersky Lab antivirus products in 2014, one billion more than in 2013.
• 38 percent of user computers were subjected to at least one Web attack over the year.
• 44 percent of Web attacks neutralized by Kaspersky Lab products were carried out using malicious web resources located in the US (27.5% of all attacks) and Germany (16.6%). The Netherlands (13.4%) came 3rd.
• Attempts to steal money via online access to bank accounts were blocked on almost 2,000,000 user computers.
• Kaspersky Lab products protected customers from an average of 3.9 million Internet-based attacks a day.
• Kaspersky Lab’s Web antivirus detected over 123,000,000 unique malicious objects: 74 percent of them were found at malicious URLs.
• A total of 3.7 million attempts to infect OS X- based computers were blocked by Kaspersky Lab products.
• An average Mac user encountered nine threats during the year.
• Kaspersky Lab solutions blocked 1.4 million attacks on Android-based devices, four times as many as last year.
• 295,500 new mobile malicious programs were detected, 2.8 times as many as in 2013.
• 12,100 mobile banking Trojans were detected, nine times as many as last year.
• 53 percent of attacks involved mobile Trojans targeting users’ money (SMS-Trojans, banking Trojans)
• 19 percent of Android users (one in five) encountered a mobile threat at least once over the year.
• Mobile malware attacks were registered in more than 200 countries worldwide.

Mobile threats
“2011 was the year of mobile malware formation, especially on Android-based devices; 2012 was when they developed and 2013 was when they reached maturity. In 2014 mobile malware focused on financial issues: the number of mobile banking Trojans was nine times greater than in the previous year and developing in this area is continuing at an alarming rate,” said Roman Unuchek, senior mobile malware analyst at Kaspersky Lab.

Financial threats
The cybercriminals who specialize in mobile financial malware are probably inspired by their experienced “colleagues” who have been stealing money via personal computers for years. Zeus remains the most widespread banking Trojan with ChePro and Lohmys coming in second and third. Three quarters of attacks targeting users’ money were carried out using banking malware, but these are not the only financial threats. Bitcoin wallet theft was the second most popular banking threat (14%) and Bitcoin mining software (10%) was another threat related to the crypto currency.

Maria Garnaeva, security expert for the Global Research and Analysis Team, Kaspersky Lab said: “One of the most effective ways to deliver malware to user computers is to exploit vulnerabilities in Oracle Java and in browsers such as Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, etc. In addition, cybercriminals continue to use exploits for Adobe Reader vulnerabilities. These infection techniques remain popular simply because social engineering techniques are still effective. Each year we see how cybercriminals are creative more inventive ways of luring in their victims. That is why recipients are still willing to read a seemingly harmless e-mail from an unexpected source and then open attachments or follow links that expose them to malicious programs.”

The full report is available on the Securelist website: http://bit.ly/1z06oZ3

About Kaspersky Lab
Kaspersky Lab is the world’s largest privately held vendor of endpoint protection solutions. The company is ranked among the world’s top four vendors of security solutions for endpoint users*. Throughout its more than 17-year history Kaspersky Lab has remained an innovator in IT security and provides effective digital security solutions for large enterprises, SMBs and consumers. Kaspersky Lab, with its holding company registered in the United Kingdom, currently operates in almost 200 countries and territories across the globe, providing protection for over 300 million users worldwide. Learn more at www.kaspersky.com.

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Media Contact
Sarah Bergeron
781.503.2615
sarah.bergeron@kaspersky.com
www.kaspersky.com

Source: Kaspersky

Tags: Kaspersky, Kaspersky Lab