Work from Home, Cyberattacks, and Financial Organizations: An Undesirable Trend

Some stats your way

• Insurers and banks witnessed a rise in botnet, phishing, and ransomware attacks by 35%; mobile malware by 32%; COVID-related malware by 30%; and insider threats by 29%.
• Financial losses have reached $720,000 due to online criminal activity alone.
• While 86% of banks and insurers believed that remote working diminished the security of their firms, 44% stated that their networks lack visibility.

Trends observed

• The pandemic has resulted in a gush of cybercrime and global financial institutions. Phishing is the most common initial vector.
• Nevertheless, COVID-themed scam emails didn’t attain the anticipated heights.
• Many organizations were forced to cut security budgets due to financial pressures brought by the pandemic. The survey found that IT security, fraud, cybercrime, and funding risks have seen a cut of 26% over the past 12 months.

Recent attacks on financial services

• Two phishing attacks were found aimed at JPMorgan Chase Bank customers. The attacks executed brand impersonation and social engineering tactics to steal login credentials.
• Lloyds Bank customers are being targeted via text message scams, informing them of a new payment scheduled by their accounts. However, this time, Britons are the specific targets.
• The Janeleiro banking trojan was spotted attacking corporates in Brazil. Along with the financial sector, the trojan attacked healthcare, retail, manufacturing, and engineering sectors.

The bottom line