Kaspersky Lab says, attacks on financial malware rise to 28 million

According to the study ‘Financial cyber threats in 2013’ conducted by Kaspersky Lab, cybercriminals are increasingly trying to gain access to the online accounts of users. Last year, the number of cyber attacks involving financial malware increased to 28.4 million – 27.6% more than 2012.

Programs designed to steal financial information include banking Trojans, keyloggers and two relatively new classes of malware – one that steals from Bitcoin wallets and another that downloads software to generate the crypto-currency. The combined activity of programs targeting Bitcoin became one of the main drivers behind the growth in financial cyber attacks in 2013. Another factor was the discovery of a number of dangerous vulnerabilities used by criminals to conduct cyber attacks via the popular Java platform.

Altaf Halde, Managing Director, Kaspersky Lab – South Asia said, "Online security is at a premium in this age of almost uncontrollable cybercriminal activity. From trojans and key-loggers to an assorted collection of financial malware, there isn't any place online that can be considered attack-free. Due to the advent of Bitcoin, an entirely new sector has opened for cybercriminals. They've now taken to mobile devices like never before as money can be made faster than ever before.”

The proportion of financial cybercrime is greatest in Afghanistan, Bolivia, Cameroon, Mongolia, Myanmar, Peru, Turkey and Ethiopia, where this type of threat accounted for more than 12% of all malware incidents.
Percentage of users who encountered financial malware among the total number of users attacked by malware in 2013.

To counter financial cyber threats, Kaspersky Lab solutions for home users and small businesses integrate Safe Money technology that protects user data during online banking and e-payment sessions.