Kaspersky Lab Presents Digital World Threats
Sergey Novikov, deputy director of the global research and security analysis team at Kapersky Lab held a presentation for representatives from the media on modern threats in the digital world at the Courtyard Marriott Hotel in Tbilisi last week. In his presentation, Novikov offered a portrait of the modern internet user, showing that in every family around the world, on average there are at least six devices connected to the internet. 46 percent of users spend from 20 to 50 hours a week at the computer at home, while 87 percent of internet users keep important information—passwords, financial details and documents—on their devices.
Novikov named email usage, internet shopping, social networks, online banking and photo or video viewing among the top five activities online. “Paradoxically, however, 40 percent of users do not protect their devices,” he said. “43 percent of users do not protect their smart phones and 79 percent of users assume they are uninteresting to cyber attackers,” Novikov said.
The statistics he displayed illustrated that, compared to 1994, when a new virus was found every hour, in 2016, the figures were aroung 310,000 viruses or malware programs found per day.
“Today, everyone from large corporations to end users at home have equal chances of being victims of cyber attackers on any device, smart phone, laptop, or desktop computer,” Novikov said.
Looking at Georgia specifically, Kaspersky Lab, an international cyber security company founded in 1997 to offer security solutions to protect consumers globally, discovered that every seventh user in the country encountered cyber threats online in 2016, from hacker attacks, fraud, phishing websites, to spam, while every fourth Georgian internet user was exposed to “local” threats from USB devices.
The data was obtained by Kaspersky Lab through analysis of the internal statistics for 2016, gained through the cloud infrastructure Kaspersky Security Network. The research claims that, on average, Georgian users encounter internet threats an average of eight times a year. They are said to meet with malware programs most often- an average of 42 times a year.
Every such activity brings the potential risk of having personal information, bank account details, or photo archives stored on a computer stolen through email and social networks.
Trojan-Banker Android OS.Spveng q, which steals user’s money through mobile devices, is among the top threats in Georgia. The study conducted by the Kaspersky Security Network illustrates that attacks on mobile devices are on the rise globally, reaching 40 million users in 2016. At the same time, more and more mobile banking applications are at risk. It’s was noted during the presentation that 82 percent of people in the world make financial operations online, and that an average user loses $507 as a result of a cyber attack aimed at stealing money.
Corporate businesses are exposed to cyber threats as much as individual users, through espionage, theft of confidential information, DDoS attacks, and mobile threats. Malware, spam, phishing and viruses are usually spread through email, social networks and USB devices, the report says, and internet users should pay attention to the browsers and applications they most commonly exploit- Adobe Reader, Adobe Flash Player, Java, and Office.
Children are among the most vulnerable groups of internet users nowadays. While generally being addicted to the internet, they often become victims of cyber bulling, and are exposed to adult content online.
Novikov’s presentation highlighted that internet communication tools, social networks and chats are most popular (85 percent) among Georgian children, followed by audio-video content downloads. E-commerce is surprisingly also among the top internet activities for youth in Georgia. The alarming tendency of child cyber bulling and fraud were noted as the most problematic issues that need to be addressed.
In order to minimize safety risks, several recommendations were given:
• Users should utilize complex tools of internet security- using only licensed products, which can guarantee the reduction of threats, viruses and malware programs.
• Attention should be paid to any spam proposals.
• Sharing of personal information on social networks should be avoided.
• Passwords should be different for all user accounts and changed regularly.
The research presented by Novikov was conducted by a B2B International Kaspersky Lab in August 2016, with 12546 internet users from 21 countries worldwide participating in the survey.
Nino Gugunishvili