According to ESET, in the first quarter of 2020, the threats from malicious Cryptominers and Android malware decreased, while on the contrary, the online threats increased. Developments in the first quarter were apparently determined by the Covid-19 pandemic. In order to take advantage of the sweeping changes in people’s daily lives and the operation of businesses due to the pandemic of coronation, cybercriminals have adapted their strategies accordingly. Despite the quarantine and to make the internet even more secure, ESET researchers, security engineers and company experts have stepped up their efforts to locate malware. At Q1 2020 ESET Threat Report, the company’s efforts, findings and successes during the first quarter of 2020 are summarized. More specifically, in March 2020, ESET identified an increase in cases of fraud and malware campaigns that used the pandemic as bait. “Obviously, cybercriminals have tried to exploit people’s fears and their need for constant information,” said Roman Kováč, ESET’s Chief Research Officer. Probably because of the quarantine imposed on public, the number of threats identified has increased – and especially the threats related to the internet. Also, during the first quarter of 2020, there was a steady upward trend in stalkerware. In contrast, compared to the previous quarter, there was a decrease in detection in some categories of threats – such as malicious cryptominers and Android malware. ESET researchers also continued their efforts to identify threats and vulnerabilities in the midst of a pandemic. The ESET Threat Report; Q1 2020 shows a general picture of the most important research programs according to which ESET researchers have uncovered new malicious campaigns by Winnti and Turla cybercrime teams, located Kr00k (CVE-2019-15126) – unknown until now vulnerability affecting encryption on more than a billion Wi-Fi devices, and finally, revealed new action techniques of a new strain of malicious Stantinko software.
The report is available here.
Larissa TEAM.
