Cyber threats get more personal
Popular online platforms such as Netflix, Facebook, and Steam are being used to spread cyber attacks as criminals focus on consumers' favorite online activities.
The latest consumer threat guide from F-Secure finds the most imitated social media platform used to spread phishing threats in 2022 was Facebook at 62 percent. Steam, the largest distribution platform for PC games, was the most popular gaming platform to spoof at 37 percent.
"Cyber criminals benefit from the fact that we spend so much of our lives online. And they know they can reach us on the online services that we use," says Laura Kankaala, F-Secure's threat intelligence lead. "Because ultimately what they want is our attention. They want to trick us into acting against our own interests to click on malicious links or download malware. So, they spam our email inboxes, tag us in comments on social media, or send us direct messages in gaming or dating apps."
Netflix is also increasingly being targeted, playing on consumers' dependence on the service for entertainment. A common scam notifies a user that the service will be cut off because a recent payment was denied and leads to criminals taking over the account.
"Cyber attacks in general have become very personal," Kankaala adds. "And little is more personal than the credentials that secure our intimate digital moments."
Infostealers are the most common Windows threat, making up 69 percent of the 30 most common attacks, according to F-Secure's monitoring of prevalent threats. One of the most popular examples of this threat is the RedLine Stealer, a customizable malware-as-service which allows criminals to suck credentials stored in users’ browsers.
You can read more and get tips on staying safe from the latest threats on the F-Secure site.
Image Credit: jurgenfr / Shutterstock