McAfee Threat Report : Criminal Quest for Money Could Make 2018 the Year of Mobile Malware

Feb 28, 2018

With more than 370 million Internet users in Southeast Asia and consistent double-digit growth in the internet, social and mobile connectivity segments in the region, mobile platforms are poised to become attractive attack vectors for cyber criminals.

As internet activity has moved to mobile platforms and the preferred choice of access for a majority of the world’s population is a mobile device, cybercrime has followed. Mobile malware authors are aiming for, and generating revenues in the millions of dollars with their malicious campaigns.

McAfee, the leading device-to-cloud cybersecurity company, has unveiled its latest Mobile Threat Report revealing over 16 million infestations detected in the third quarter of 2017 alone – nearly double the number from last year.

2017 not only marked an explosion in mobile malware, but also showed significant changes in the mobile landscape, setting up 2018 to be a year of advanced and targeted attacks.




The McAfee Mobile Threat Report 2018 highlights the following mobile trends in 2018:
  • Financial threats spike globally – A global spike in banking Trojans has occurred, targeting account holders of large multinational and small regional banks.
  • Virtual bank robberies – With the growing interest in crypto currencies cybercriminals are attempting virtual bank robberies by distributing fake mobile wallets and targeting the crypto currency industry.
  • Targeted attacks spike on mobile – From North Korean dissidents and journalists to protesters in Iran, targeted attacks have increased globally. Mobile devices are the preferred choice for attackers to gather intelligence and track victims.
  • Persistent threats – The increasing proliferation of Internet of Things (IoT) devices are certainly bringing convenience and ease, but they are also significantly increasing the threat landscape, increasing the number of possible points of attack in our homes.

In order to secure the increasing number of consumer devices susceptible to attack, McAfee has also announced key partnerships to ensure security is built-in across devices and networks.

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