EMERGING TREND IN HACKING AND SOCIAL ENGINEERING

As we approach the nitty gritty of the digital age, technology has grown and is still growing rapidly, likewise the activities of cyber criminals in keeping up with the emerging trend. With invention of smartphones, tablets, iPads, iPods and potentially many billions of Internet-connected devices of all kinds, Internet security is now shifting from the desktop, laptop and the data center to the home, the pocket, the purse, and, most importantly, the infrastructure of the Internet itself. People now rely more on mobile devices, thus, more spam, scams, and threats are tailored to these devices.

Email has been the major attack vector for scammers, but in keeping up with the emerging trend, they are now leveraging social media platforms and mobile Apps to carry out their filthy activities. This is very lucrative for these scammers as users of social media platforms are more likely to click and share something posted by a friend thus spreading it rapidly. Many people have this mindset that cyber threat occurs only in desktop and laptop computers, ignorantly neglecting the basic security precautions on their mobile Apps and smartphones. In study conducted by Symantec in 2014, it was observed that 70% of social media scams were manually shared. The study also found out that 17% and 36% of all Android Apps and mobile Apps were actually malware and grayware(a non malicious software design to track users location and behavior) in disguise. This is unconnected with the high level of internet security ignorance among users of social media. In a Norton survey, it was reported that users did not know what they agreed to give access to on their phone when downloading an application; and 68% are willing to give up their privacy for nothing more than a free App.  

MOBILE MALWARE

Mobile malware is malicious software targeted at mobile devices. It is on the increase yet mobile users don’t recognize this fact. The growth of mobile malware is now on the increase targeted at user’s money. Cyber criminals now write mobile malware to capture bank details of users, capable of intercepting text messages with authentication codes from the user’s bank and use it for fraudulent act. They also create similar mobile App of the bank and use it to trick the user into giving up his/her account details.

Most App users think they understand what they are agreeing to when downloading apps, not knowing they have little understanding of App permission practices and mode of operation. Not only can mobile Apps have access to user’s sensitive information, but the phones can also be used to invade the privacy of the user. The App collects and sends sensitive data including physical location of the users to the App developers. It is highly advisable to read and understand the terms of use of the App and also the privacy policy before agreeing to download the App. Most users are aware of these threats, yet are still willing to allow Apps access to their personal information.

SMS THREAT TO MOBILE DEVICES

SMS(Short Message Service) and other mobile messaging are readily used as a means to deliver all kinds of fraudulent campaigns. Apparently, it is one of the most dangerous threats as its vector of attack.

SMS has been an infection and propagation vector for many viruses like Trojans, worms, etc through malicious apps to infect victims especially the contact list. These short messages look real but may include links to malicious websites/apps. For examples, messages like “Hi buddy, check out this amazing free music download http://scammers.gov.net.org” or Get a free money making ebook here http://scammers.gov.net.org.

Dating Apps and social media sites are the main medium scammers are using to lure unsuspecting victim. They initially target mobile dating apps users and later moved to SMS. The way and manner these scammers carry out their nefarious activities has no far difference on how it has been running on email, but with the new mobile platform, it has become easier for them when using a relatively trusted medium.

Every Dick and harry should be attentive to each communication on social media and other platform and be aware that cyber criminals are constantly devising and improving their fraudulent activities.