what are the most common and how to protect yourself

The total or partial confinement due to this endless pandemic has shifted a large part of daily life to the virtual world. Classes, jobs and even family reunions have moved to the Internet. Now almost everything is online, and of course, so is the crime.

“Internet crime it already represents half of all crimes committed in the world, but its effect multiplied by hyperconnectivity and the massive use of mobile devices, this represents an incidence of up to 60%, ”warns a report by BTR Consulting, which was presented to a group of journalists during a teleconference at which attended Bugle.

How did it happen? “The number of online attacks increased by 300% in 2020, the number of completed crimes by 70% and by 2021, the trend is expected to continue, reaching economic damage equivalent to the GDP of the world’s third largest economy, ”the specialists explained.

“In Argentina, 900 million cyberattack attempts were recorded in 2020. And considering only October, November and December, there have been 550 million attempted attacks in the country, ”confirms another study, this time published by the cybersecurity services company Fortinet.

The most common crimes are theft of access credentials. Identity theft to steal money from “home banking and credit card accounts will be the hottest targets this year,” they added to BTR.

By phishing techniques (by email or WhatsApp, a message arrives that claims to come from the bank or the credit card and asks for the access codes to the account, with the excuse of the existence of a problem which must be solved instantly) or by means of certain malware (a program is installed without authorization that could steal the access codes that are used), they seek to enter users’ bank accounts “to withdraw the available balance, take a salary advance, apply for pre-arranged loans and even buy foreign currency and forward it, ”they explained on the conference call.

Another type of theft that develops is Online skimming, which is implemented with software that runs in the victim’s browser, capable of capturing when credit card information is being used. This is the analogy in the digital world of readers of credit card which are placed in ATMs to later clone the numbers of the plastics. Electronic shopping scams increased 106% in 2020.

In addition, for this year, the consolidation of social networks as a scene of scams is expected. With hundreds of user groups involve thousands of fake profiles, most of which are using Facebook as a motive for deception to commit crimes, but which is quickly spreading to other networks such as Instagram and TikTok. “Our profile on social networks is already constituted as an exchange good as long as there is a demand for stolen profiles, followers and likes, ”they said of BTR Consulting.

The growing problem is not only seen in the country. In Europe, 56% of companies do not have a cybersecurity strategy and 90% do not have professionals in the field, ”indicates a report prepared by Minsait and SIA. “The paradigm shift in relation to the pandemic involves a challenge for humanity: to implement stronger security practices, to raise community awareness and to educate for a safer and more resilient interconnected world,” said Gabriel Zurdo, CEO by BTR Consulting.

Ransomware, the most feared threat

According to consulting firm PwC’s Cyber ​​Threats 2020: Global Threat Report, ransomware is the number one threat to businesses this year. While this modality, with which digital files are typically kidnapped and to free their content and then demand a ransom, was a significant threat in 2019, attackers only acted in 2020.

Today, many attackers “disclose data to their victims before encrypting their files and announcing that they have been compromised for then set a deadline within which the ransom must be paid (usually in crypto-currencies) and, if they refuse, they will be published, ”they say in PwC.

At BTR Consulting, they coincide. “It is one of the fastest growing forms of fraud, especially in business. It is aimed at a specific target, it is not massive at the moment but it could turn out to be the biggest security crisis in history. Organizations continue to fall victim to ransomware, however, progress in tackling these attacks, which are now one of the Internet’s biggest security concerns, continues to be slow, ”they said.

Advice

In 2020, 95% of cybersecurity incidents were related to human error. That’s why attention when browsing the web and opening mail or an app is essential. And the best is to follow a behavior.

–Update periodically the applications and the operating system.

-Analyze the system as often as possible (once a week at least) with cybersecurity software.

–Never reply to an email claiming to be from a bank. Banks do not request data by mail.

-Do not respond in networks direct messages of people who do not know each other. And don’t be tempted to open suspicious emails. “We need to be alert to any suspicious activity, and implement and monitor all necessary controls on personal devices,” advises Gustavo Maggi, Fortinet’s regional director for South America.

-Use in all cases difficult passwords (with a minimum of 8 characters, with letters, symbols and numbers).

LC