Enterprise mobile devices see increased attacks
A new report on the mobile threat landscape from Lookout reveals a 40.4 percent jump in mobile phishing attempts and malicious web attacks targeting enterprise organizations.
More than 80,000 malicious apps were detected on enterprise mobile devices. These threats can vary widely, from invasive permissions and riskware that pose significant compliance risks to sophisticated spyware capable of tracking devices, stealing data, eavesdropping on conversations and accessing the user' camera and microphone.
The top ten most common mobile app vulnerabilities encountered by Lookout users in the second quarter of 2024 were in components of mobile browsers. Attackers target these vulnerabilities in particular, hoping users haven't updated to patched versions.
"Attackers have proven over and over again that targeting employees through mobile-based phishing attacks, such as SMS phishing and voice phishing, can be highly successful. To combat these threats, Lookout recommends implementing a comprehensive defense strategy that safeguards against multiple points of compromise, including mobile, cloud and data protection," says David Richardson, vice president of endpoint and threat intelligence at Lookout. "MDM solutions are essential for managing enterprise environments and ensuring consistency across devices, but they are not designed to provide security. It's important to view MDMs as a complement to MTD solutions, which can effectively protect against mobile phishing and other threats that MDMs cannot address."
The top three most encountered mobile malware families are IdShark spyware, the Triada trojan and the MoneytiseSDK trojan. All of these target Android devices, as indeed do all of the top 10.
Although most malware is still targeted at Android, more than 40 percent of iOS vulnerabilities disclosed in the last 18 months have had a CVSS score of seven out of 10 or greater. 35 percent of iOS vulnerabilities fall in high or critical categories.
The full report is available from the Lookout site.
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