Bad news: hackers and threats thrived and even evolved amid the global coronavirus pandemic.
Here are the top 6 key security findings over the last year from Bitdefender Labs:
- 485 percent increase in global ransomware reports.
Cyber-criminals added a new feature: double extortion. They ramped up the pressure on victims to pay by threatening to publish the data they stole before encrypting it. - Spammers got better and trickier.
They used adequate jargon, legitimate logos and layouts, and even impersonated real figures, shifting from coronavirus-themed spam messages to banking services, delivery services, and even travel services. - More trojans after people’s money.
Banking trojans like Dridex, Emotet, Trickbot and AgentTesla were quite popular among cyber-criminals in 2020. Some of them focused on individually collecting personal or financial data; others were used to deliver ransomware or even additional trojans. - 320 percent increase in global potentially unwanted applications reports.
While these apps may not be harmful per se, they do have a reputation for slowing down and affecting devices’ performance and even displaying aggressive ads. - Android devices under attack.
Bitdefender Labs saw a 32% increase in reported Android threats during the second half of 2020 compared to the second half of 2019. - More vulnerable devices in people’s homes.
Network-attached devices rank first in the number of identified vulnerabilities, followed by media players, smart TVs, IP cameras, computers, streaming devices, set up boxes and home theaters.