Page 44 - the SyI Quarterly 10

Cyber Updates
Top Mobile Security Threats
Expected In 2022
By Nicolle Allen at Salt Communications
Misinformation campaigns, supply chain attacks,
phishing, smishing, mobile interception and
mobile malware dominate mobile security
trends worldwide businesses and government
organisations are battling daily.
The hazards of compromised mobile security
vulnerabilities are waiting around the corner, with
the most prominent businesses and governments
feeling the heat of cyber attacks and mobile
threats due to the increased use of mobile phones
for work purposes.
Due to the ever-increasing number of cyber
incidents in 2021, leading business and security
specialists are encouraging corporate leaders to
spend significantly on Mobile Threat Defense. Due
to the apparent complex nature of security threats
and attacks, as well as the obscurity of typical
detection techniques, today’s mobile security risks
have more than doubled in recent years.
Growth of Phishing and Smishing attacks
This year mobile phishing assaults are expected
to increase in sophistication and effectiveness by
tempting users to click on malicious web links,
open infected files, and download malware from
email attachments or even SMS. Following the
dangers of uncontrolled WiFi connections, phishing botnet. In addition to weak passwords providing a
attacks have risen to second place of the most
prevalent network hazards for mobile devices.
Phishing is a fraudulent attempt by cybercriminals
to steal sensitive personal information such
as credit card details and login credentials by
impersonating a legitimate company or individual
in an email conversation.
Smishing has been around for a long time, and due security cameras, which may now be controlled
in part, to the global pandemic, it has increased in
popularity, as indicated by Google News. Smishing
is a global problem that leads to massive financial
losses, invasions of privacy, and growing enterprise
damages. Smishing scammers send text messages
44
to deceive consumers into clicking on harmful
links and disclosing personal information. In the
first six months of 2021, mobile smishing rose by
over 700%, possibly as a result of online shopping
increasing due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The rise of Mobile Malware attacks
2021 witnessed a significant increase in malware
attacks, with hackers focusing their efforts
on smartphones using techniques such as
surveillance, credential theft, and harmful adverts.
In fact, according to a prominent digital journal,
cyberattacks on mobile devices increased by
50% in the first half of 2021 compared to the
same period the previous year. Publications
and prominent analysts suggest the number of
malware attacks has risen due to the increased
use of banking apps’ providing hackers with
a means to steal payment data, misuse login
credentials, and remove funds from victims’ bank
accounts.
Attempts to seize connected devices will
increase
Kaspersky discovered that infected devices are
being used to steal personal or business data and
mine cryptocurrency, in addition to classic DDoS
operations in which the devices are added to a
mechanism to hack IoT targets, a growing number
of vulnerabilities are being discovered, making
IoT devices more appealing to attackers. It is
also expected that the number of IoT-connected
devices will increase by 17% over the next seven
years. Furthermore, the risk is increasing with
several home-based products, heaters, locking
systems, electric switches, automobiles, and
remotely from a mobile device via a single
smartphone app.
AI will become essential to some businesses
In combating cybercrime, cybersecurity
systems should consist of two capabilities: first,
understanding the type and behaviour of cyber
threats, and second, figuring out how to block
them.
However, the increasing complexity of cyber
threats such as zero-day malware, trojans,
and ransomware necessitates a solution that
goes beyond human intelligence. To this end,
Artificial Intelligence (AI) has proven to be highly
effective in mitigating its effects by using machine
learning, deep learning, and other cutting-
edge approaches to replicate human precision
in cyber-attack detection on a broader scale.
AI tools have become critical components for
accurately detecting future dangers and delivering
appropriate responses to avoid business
disruption with companies investing millions of
dollars in detecting threats and preventing attacks.
Malvertising and eavesdropping will increase
with easy SSL certificates
Most of us rely on a website with a padlock icon
in the URL bar, which merely indicates that it is
a secure website to access. However, as more
businesses use this method to demonstrate their
security, hackers seize the opportunity to obtain
an SSL certificate while remaining undetected.
The biggest threat is through payment gateways
on a mobile, and with a lack of a strong SSL
certificate on apps, many fall foul. Yet obtaining
an SSL certificate is relatively simple, with issuers
offering the service free of charge or at a low
cost to prevent payments from being monitored
or Personally Identifiable Information (PII) being
obtained. For attackers, digital certificates
are beneficial because they allow them to get
beyond ever-improving defence systems, with
these attacks projected to remain popular for
the foreseeable future. An easy SSL certificate
prevents the user from having any armour to stop
their mobile from being compromised.
The growing popularity of Mobile
Interception
The storage, recording, tracking, and interception
of cellular communications such as phone calls,
internet usage, SMS, and so on is known as mobile
interception technology. This technology can
collect information about terrorist or criminal
activity when used lawfully. However, there is
a significant increase in this type of technology
being made available for unlawful reasons. The
use of unencrypted mobile messaging apps
to communicate information leaves business
and government employees open to attack
by providing a bad actor with an inexpensive
entry point and easy method to intercept and
collect transactional information or top-secret
government communications. Where hackers
have intercepted M&A communications to gain
access to sensitive information to manipulate the
stock market for financial gain, or a government
employee has discussed sensitive information via
insecure mobile platforms, is a decision that could
put themselves and the wider public in danger
should the information fall into the wrong hands.
This is why many businesses and governments
choose to use a secure communications platform
to interact both internally and externally.
The Salt Communications solution enables
professionals to conduct secure calls and send
secure messages while maintaining complete
communication privacy. Salt allows organisations
to control their own communications, mitigating
many of the risks other businesses encounter
when sharing important information via their
mobile device. All of these mobile security trends
point to the increasing need for more stringent
and comprehensive mobility policies. Indeed, if
forecasts are correct, new industry-specific and
universal data privacy regulations and governance
will be enacted in 2022, with a particular
application dedicated to mobility to carefully
monitor the pattern of mobile usage by far and
wide.
To discuss this article in greater detail with
the team, or to sign up for a free trial of
Salt Communications contact us on info@
saltcommunications.com or visit our website at
https://saltcommunications.com/.