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Attacks related to data loss threats, scams or social engineering increased by 230%, experts say
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Phishing and scams peaked in the UAE, with a 230% increase in detections in Q2 2022.
Attacks related to data loss threats, phishing and scams or social engineering increased significantly in the second quarter of 2022, increasing by 230% in the UAE compared to the previous quarter, according to Kaspersky analysis by cybersecurity experts.
Additionally, the company’s security solutions detected a whopping 3,481,419 phishing attacks in the UAE during the second quarter.
Mikhail Sytnik, security expert at Kaspersky, said: “According to data from Kaspersky, the number of attacks related to data loss threats in most Middle Eastern countries increased by a staggering 159% in Q2 2022, with a total of 15,012,880 phishing scams detected .”
The most targeted country was Saudi Arabia, with 5,808,946 phishing attacks, an increase of 168%.
Holidays are riskier
“Especially during the peak holiday season, scammers are trying to lure travelers who are looking for interesting places, cheap places to stay and affordable flights,” Sytnik said.
Cybersecurity researchers have observed an intensification of scams, with numerous phishing pages distributed under the guise of airlines and booking services. In the META region, there were 4,311 attempts to open phishing pages related to bookings and airline services in the first half of 2022.
“Planning a holiday is not easy. People can spend weeks or even months looking for the perfect place to stay and tickets to get there. Fraudsters use it to lure users who are tired of finding great deals,” he said.
“After two years of flight restrictions imposed by the pandemic, travel is back. But so is travel scams – scams targeting users through fake bookings and rental services are on the rise. This attack is completely preventable, which is why We urge users to be skeptical of overly generous offers. If an offer looks too good to be true, it probably is,” Sytnik said.
What is social engineering?
Social engineering, sometimes referred to as a “human hacking” scam, was used to lure unwary users to the site and trick them into entering personal information, Sytnik said.
“The latter often includes financial credentials, such as bank account passwords or payment card details, or login details for social media accounts,” he said.
In the wrong hands, this opens the door to various malicious actions, such as funds being stolen or a company network being compromised.
“Phishing is a powerful attack method because it is carried out on a large scale. By sending mass emails or promoting fake pages in the name of legitimate agencies, malicious users increase their chances of success in finding the credentials of innocent people,” Sytnik added road.
Phishers use a variety of tricks to bypass email blocking and lure as many users as possible to their fraudulent sites. “A common technique is HTML attachments with partially or fully obfuscated code. HTML files allow attackers to use scripts, obfuscate malicious content to make it harder to detect, and send phishing pages as attachments rather than links,” he said. explained.
How to protect yourself?
- Before entering any sensitive information, such as your login details and password, look carefully at the address bar. If there is something wrong with the URL (ie spelling, it doesn’t look like the original, or it uses some special symbols instead of letters) don’t enter anything on the site. When in doubt, click the lock icon to the left of the URL to check the site’s certificate.
- Do not click on links from unknown sources (via email, messaging apps or social networks).
- If you see a giveaway from a travel company or airline on email or social media, check the business’s official website to confirm the giveaway exists. You should also double-check the link that the giveaway ad directs you to.
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