Ransomware is dangerous, no doubt. We have seen what it can do with the recent WannaCry attacks that hit hundreds of thousands of companies all over the world and netted the criminal(s) around $100K at last count. Well, that’s really some of the better news according to the recent Symantec Internet Security Threat Report. While ransomware is still troublesome, they say it lacks the popularity of some of financial malware that is specifically designed to target financial institutions and their customers.
Financial malware typically makes its way around via phishing. A user opens an attachment or clicks a link in an email that is malicious and sets the malware off to do its thing. Sometimes this is done when a user visits a malicious website. The bottom line is that the thieves want login credentials or other information that can net them some profit.
Last year, this type of malware was seen over 1.2 million times by Symantec. That’s 2.5 times more than ransomware instances during the same timeframe. They’re not just targeting consumers either. Attacks are going straight for the financial institutions themselves. For example, the Central Bank of Bangladesh was a victim of a $1 billion transfer to a hacker using the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) transfer system recently. In another case, also courtesy of SWIFT and malware, a bank in Ecuador lost $12 million to thieves.
Education and awareness training may be more important than ever too. The person receiving email messaging carrying the malware remain the weakest links. They just keep opening those attachments and clicking on the links. Thirty-eight percent (38%) of the attacks were on large businesses using widespread email campaigns.
Dominating these attacks over the year were the Zeus, Ramnit and Bebloh families. They were responsible for 86% of all financial Trojans.
There is a silver lining in this. Symantec found that rates of detection for financial malware overall was on the decline to the tune of 36%. However, the expectation is that the methods are currently being switched over to mobile platforms as people continue to favor those for performing banking transactions. So perhaps we should anticipate an uptick again next year. Let’s hope not.
For banks and credit unions
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