Cybercrooks targeting Australia get more inventive

Cybercriminals targeting Australian internet users are becoming more inventive in their attack vectors and methods, according to Trend Micro.

Australia ranked sixth in the world for countries with the highest number of macro malware detections in the second quarter, the security company said in its latest round-up report. The number of malicious app downloads by Australian mobile device users also significantly increased.

At the same time, the number of malicious URLs clicked by Australian internet users decreased to under 19 million during the quarter, from over 37 million in Q1.

It is unclear whether cybercriminals are finding malicious URLs less effective or are simply stepping up their game and becoming more effective with their attack methods. But Trend Micro’s Asia Pacific managing director, Dhanya Thakkar, said Q2 saw a substantial shift in the threat landscape.

“Cybercriminals [are] becoming more sophisticated and creative, amplifying existing methods of attack and using them in new ways,” he said.

This is reflected by exponential growth in the use of several traditional attack methods, including a 50% increase in use of the Angler exploit kit. Australia ranked third in the world for countries most affected by this kit.

In addition, both the CryptoWall 3.0 and TorrentLocker ransomware were both observed in Australia. Thakkar said the findings demonstrate that Australians can’t afford to ignore the new threat landscape.

“The ethereal outlook on the threat of cybercrime can no longer be held by the general population. This quarter demonstrated that the potential damage caused by cyber attacks extends far beyond a simple software bug to hacks of airplanes, smart cars and television stations,” he said.

Image courtesy of Yuri Samoilov under CC