Cybersecurity
Cybersecurity news, data protection updates, cloud security trends, and digital threat intelligence for businesses and organizations in Saudi Arabia and the Gulf region.
Exploit detections in the Middle East rise 8% in Q2 2022
According to Kaspersky Security Network data, the number of exploits detected in Q2 2022 in the Middle East increased compared to Q1 – the company’s security solutions have detected 1,258,283 cases in April-June 2022. Exploits are programs or pieces of code written by cybercriminals that are designed to take advantage of a bug or vulnerability […]
Crypto-collapse and rising smart attacks: Kaspersky reports on DDoS in Q2
During Q2 2022, Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks reached a new level as the share of smart attacks and average duration saw steep increases. Compared to the previous year, the average duration of a DDoS attack rose 100 times, reaching 3,000 minutes. The share of smart attacks almost broke the four-year record, accounting for […]
Kaspersky shares online gaming safety tips for children
Following the recent leakage, revealing how Roblox moderates content, Kaspersky experts share insights on what cyber threats can threaten users, and especially children, in the gaming space and how to protect yourselves. The leaked documents give insight into the targeting of children by predators on the platform and how the platform attempts to fight child grooming. Additionally, one issue […]
Phishing and scams hit the roof in Saudi Arabia with 168% increase in number of detections in Q2 2022
Kaspersky analysis has revealed that attacks related to data loss threats (phishing and scam/social engineering) increased significantly in Q2 2022 at 168% in comparison with the previous quarter in Saudi Arabia – the company’s security solutions have detected 5,808,946 phishing attacks in Saudi Arabia in Q2. Social engineering which is sometimes called “human hacking” scams […]
Kaspersky recognized as endpoint security leader by G2 Crowd
Kaspersky’s Endpoint Security for Business has been awarded the Leader position in peer-to-peer review platform at G2’s 2022 Summer Awards. This recognition spans Endpoint Protection Suites both for enterprise and small business. The Kaspersky solution has also been praised as the fastest implementation product with the shortest go-live time in its category, and showed the best estimated […]
Cisco Reveals Top Cybersecurity Threats Trends in Q2 2022:
Commodity malware on the rise surpassing ransomware Al Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, August 3, 2022 – Cisco Talos, one of the world’s largest private threat intelligence teams released its latest quarterly report that examines incident response trends and global cyber threats. According to the report, during April, May and June 2022, commodity malware outpaced ransomware for the first time in more […]
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CosmicStrand: sophisticated firmware rootkit allows durable persistence
Kaspersky’s researchers have uncovered a rootkit developed by an advanced persistent threat (APT) actor that stays on the victim’s machine even if the operating system is rebooted or Windows is reinstalled – making it very dangerous in the long run. Dubbed “CosmicStrand,” this UEFI firmware rootkit was used majorly to attack private individuals in China, with rare […]
NaiveCopy: Kaspersky discovers highly active APT campaign targeting cryptocurrency industry
In the second quarter of 2022, Kaspersky researchers witnessed Advanced Persistent Threat (APT) actors increasingly targeting the cryptocurrency industry. Using cryptocurrency-related content and warnings from law enforcements as bait, the actor behind this new and highly active campaign, dubbed “NaiveCopy”, attacked stock and cryptocurrency investors in South Korea. Further analysis of NaiveCopy’s tactics and techniques […]
New malicious campaign hunts Discord messenger users via infected open-source packages
On July 26, using the internal automated system for monitoring open-source repositories, Kaspersky researchers identified a malicious campaign dubbed LofyLife. The campaign employed 4 malicious packages spreading Volt Stealer and Lofy Stealer malware in the open-source npm repository to gather various information from victims, including Discord tokens and credit card information, and to spy on […]
IBM Report: Middle Eastern Consumers Pay the Price as Regional Data Breach Costs Reach All-Time High
According to newly published report, data breaches have cost the Middle East SAR 28 million in 2022 Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, – July 28, 2022: IBM, the leading global technology company, has published a study highlighting the importance of cybersecurity in an increasingly digital age. According to IBM Security’s annual Cost of a Data Breach Report,[1]the Middle East […]
No More Ransom helped more than 1.5 million people decrypt their devices
No More Ransom, the initiative launched to help victims of ransomware decrypt their files, celebrated its six-year anniversary. Since the launch, it has grown from four partners to 188 and has contributed 136 decryption tools covering 165 ransomware families. In doing so, it has helped more than 1.5 million people decrypt their devices all over […]
Over half of users in Saudi Arabia faced phishing scams when using digital payments
According to the Kaspersky Digital Payment survey, 57% of respondents from Saudi Arabia faced phishing scams when using online banking or mobile wallet services. 46% have personally encountered fake websites, and 58% — scams (via texts or calls) using social engineering. When asked about awareness of threats against digital payment methods, the majority of respondents […]
Stranger Scams: cybercriminals drain wallets of popular mystery series’ fans
In early July, season four of one of the most long-awaited series, Stranger Things, was released. Despite a three-year break due to pandemic-related delays, the series was hotly anticipated and, once again, topped streaming charts. Unfortunately, the desire of ardent fans to see new episodes as soon as possible has been actively abused by fraudsters. […]
Delivery failed: users in the Middle East deceived by cybercriminals who mimic post services
Dubai, U.A.E. 26/07/2022 – Group-IB, one of the global leaders in cybersecurity, has identified a widescale phishing campaign targeting users in the Middle East by impersonating well-known postal services from Bahrain, Egypt, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Israel, Jordan, and the United Arab Emirates. Since as early as 2020, the Group-IB Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-GIB) analysts have detected over 270 domains making use of the regional delivery […]
Airline and booking services scams intensify at the height of the holiday season
Vacation season is well and truly upon us, and travelers around the world are looking for interesting places to go, cheap places to stay and reasonably priced flights. And scammers are here to give them what they need — well, sort of. Kaspersky researchers have observed intensified scamming activities, with numerous phishing pages distributed under […]
Luna in Rust: new ransomware group emerges using cross-platform programming language
Kaspersky researchers have uncovered a new ransomware group that further underlines the trend of ransomware actors turning to cross-platform functionality. The group, dubbed Luna, employs the use of ransomware written in Rust, a programming language that has been previously used by BlackCat and Hive gangs, among others. It allows them to easily port malware from […]
AV-TEST finds Kaspersky security solutions for business deliver 100% ransomware protection
AV-TEST, the independent IT security institute, has recognized Kaspersky Endpoint Security for Business and Kaspersky Small Office Security as standouts in its Advanced Threat Protection test for ransomware protection. The assessment found that both Kaspersky business solutions were capable of successfully defending against ransomware in 10 real-life scenarios. Ransomware attacks are on the rise. While Kaspersky […]
New social engineering tactics: cybercriminals posing as journalists or Twitter employees
These attacks typically aim to harvest credentials Cybersecurity experts at Poofpoint have recently noticed tactics that hackers from Iran and Turkey have been using in 2022 to steal credentials. The attacks include cybercriminals sending malicious emails stating that a user’s Twitter account has been hacked or a journalist’s request for the online interview. “The report by Proofpoint […]
How deepfakes attack business and how to combat them
Recently, the FBI announced that more companies have been reporting people applying to jobs using deepfakes. Imposters use video, images, recordings, and stolen identities pretending to be someone else to get a remote IT position. This may sound like a joke, but hiring a deepfake can lead to serious problems when a fake employee gets access to […]
Bitcoin for all: Nvidia joins the list of brands favored by fraudsters
To reach a specific community, scammers often act under the guise of well-known companies. In new malicious activity discovered by Kaspersky experts, the attackers were hidden behind the technology company, Nvidia. These attackers launched a fraudulent website to commemorate the company’s 30th anniversary, which welcomed visitors to participate in a 50-thousand bitcoin giveaway. The scammers had […]
Help AG Launches Managed Digital Risk Protection Service to Proactively Mitigate Increasing Digital Risks
Dubai, United Arab Emirates, July 18th, 2022: Help AG, the cybersecurity arm of e& enterprise (formerly known as Etisalat Digital) and the region’s trusted security advisor, has launched a new edition of its fully cloud-delivered Digital Risk Protection (DRP) service. The new service comes with best-in-class benefits such as comprehensive risk detection, which incorporates deep and dark […]
Does Lockdown mode equal security?
Recently Apple announced its new ‘Lockdown Mode’. It’s aimed at protecting users who may be at risk of highly targeted cyberattacks from private companies developing state-sponsored mercenary spyware. The most significant recent case of such an attack was highlighted by Guardian research from 2021. The report suggests that over 30,000 human rights activists, journalists and lawyers across the world […]