from DION HENRICK in Cape Town
CAPE TOWN – THERE have been more than 150 million malware attacks in Middle East, Turkey and Africa (META) since the beginning of the year.
This represents a staggering 108 percent increase from the first quarter of the year. It translates to an average of 1.6 million attacks per day.
Kaspersky Lab, the global cybersecurity company, disclosed the statistics during its just-ended annual Cyber Security held in Cape Town, South Africa.
According to the company, with some of the highest mobile phone penetration rates in the world, it is no surprise that the META region also attracts a significant share of malware attacks targeted at mobiles.
During the research period, there was a 146 percent increase in crypto-mining malware (3,16 million attacks) and a 3334 percent increase in phishing (5,83 million attacks).
However, there was an 18 percent decrease in ransomware, with 193 000 attacks.
“A drop in ransomware incidents is a great showcase of the security consciousness that is growing in the META region,” said Amin Hasbini, Senior security Researcher, Global Research and Analysis Team at Kaspersky Lab.
He said at the same time, there are less ransomware attacks, malicious attention was being diverted elsewhere.
“Personal and organisation-facing financial threats seem to be growing unabated, and we are using Cyber Security Weekend as a platform to strengthen awareness of new and emerging areas of vulnerability,” Hasbini said.
– CAJ News
