TECHDIGEST – WhatsApp has announced new security features it will be adding in the coming months to help users improve their messaging security.

Part of the new security features will include account protect, which allows WhatsApp to ask a user trying to switch to a new phone for verification on his old phone.

Speaking on other features, it said, “Device Verification: Mobile device malware is one of the biggest threats to people’s privacy and security today because it can take advantage of your phone without your permission and use your WhatsApp to send unwanted messages.

“To help prevent this, we have added checks to help authenticate your account – with no action needed from you – and better protect you if your device is compromised. This lets you continue using WhatsApp uninterrupted. Go deeper on the tech here.”

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It added that it is also rolling out a security feature based on a process called ‘Key Transparency’ that will allow a user to automatically verify that they have a secure connection.

According to WhatsApp, what this means for a user is that when he clicks on the encryption tab, he will be able to verify right away that his personal conversation is secured.

It further stated, “These are three additional ways we are helping sec, secure your account. While there are many things we can do to make security easy for everyone, there are two features that only you can turn on: two-step verification and use of end-to-end encrypted backups.

“If you are already using both, please tell your friends about them, so more people can benefit from these layers of security too.”

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By Temitayo Jaiyeola

TECHDIGEST – Nigeria loses about $500m yearly to cyberattacks, according to the Nigerian Communications Commission.

In a recent report, the Senior Manager of Cyber Risk Services at Deloitte, Ms Funmilola Odumuboni, disclosed that a cyberattack occurs every 39 seconds. She added that cybercrimes have increased by nearly 300 per cent since the onset of the pandemic.

A recent study by Sophos disclosed that 71 per cent of Nigerian organisations were victims of ransomware in 2021 while 44 per cent of those affected firms had to pay ransoms to get their data back.

To combat the rising spate of cyberattacks in the country, the NCC’s Centre for Computer Security Incident Response issues advisory as the need arises to Nigerians.

At the launch of the centre, the Executive Vice Chairman of NCC, Prof. Umar Danbatta, said, “Thus, the commission recognises that with the borderless nature and pervasiveness of these incidences, relentless and concerted attention is required to protect Internet users as well as the Critical National Information Infrastructure and ensure they are resilient.”

According to Kaspersky, a cybersecurity firm, cybercrime represents an ongoing risk to individuals, organisations and governments globally.

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It stated that research had shown that there were 50 per cent more attack attempts on corporate networks in 2021 than in 2020. As well as the financial losses caused by cybercrime, there are less tangible costs for businesses – such as reputational damage and reduced consumer trust.

Defining what a cyber attack is, the firm said, “A cyber attack is an attempt by cybercriminals to disable computers, steal data, or use a breached computer system to launch additional attacks.

“Cyber attacks have become more sophisticated in recent years and, as a result, cyber attack prevention is essential for every individual and organisation.

“Cybercrime is based upon the effective exploitation of vulnerabilities. Security teams are at a disadvantage because they must protect all possible entry points, while attackers only need to find and exploit one weakness or vulnerability. This imbalance favours attackers, which means that even large organisations can struggle to prevent cybercriminals from gaining access to their networks.”

Cybercriminals can use any internet-connected device as a weapon, a target or both, which means individuals and businesses of all sizes are at risk.

According to ICT expert and Senior Partner of e86 Limited, Olugbenga Odeyemi, “We are witnessing more cyberattacks and this is related to the growth we are seeing in the area of technology.

“More businesses are coming online, operating remotely and setting up technology infrastructures that were not desired a few years ago. It is that growth that is leading to more attacks and the sophistication of such attacks.”

Explaining the types of cybersecurity attacks, Kaspersky, in a blog post wrote:

Malware

Malware or malicious software is an umbrella term which refers to intrusive programs designed to exploit devices at the expense of the user and to the benefit of the attacker.

There are various types of malware, but they all use techniques designed not only to fool users but also to evade security controls so they can install themselves on a system or device covertly without permission. Some of the most common types of malware include:

Ransomware – the use of extortion software that can lock your computer and then demand a ransom for its release.

Trojans – a type of malware that typically gets hidden as an attachment in an email or a free-to-download file, and then transfers onto the user’s device. Trojans are capable of gathering sensitive user data, including credentials, payment information, and more.

Spyware – It is the use of software that enables an attacker to obtain covert information about another’s computer activities by transmitting data covertly from their hard drive. Spyware is also able to function as a keylogger and can take screenshots of sensitive data.

Distributed Denial-of-Service attacks

A distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack involves multiple compromised computer systems attacking a target, such as a server, website, or another network resource, causing a denial of service for users of the targeted resource. The sheer volume of incoming messages, connection requests or malformed packets to the target system forces it to slow down or crash – which denies service to legitimate users or systems.

Phishing

A phishing attack is a form of fraud in which an attacker masquerades as a reputable entity, such as a bank, well-known company, or person in email or other forms of communication, to distribute malicious links or attachments. This is to trick an unsuspecting victim into handing over valuable information, such as passwords, credit card details, intellectual property, and so on.

Spear phishing attacks are directed at specific individuals or companies, while whaling attacks are a type of spear phishing attack that specifically targets senior executives within an organisation. One type of whaling attack is the business email compromise, where the attacker targets specific employees who can authorize financial transactions to deceive them into transferring money into an account controlled by the attacker. The FBI estimates that $43bn was lost between 2016 and 2021 because of business email compromises.

SQL injection attacks

Most websites are database-driven and are, therefore, vulnerable to SQL injection attacks. An SQL query is a request for some action to be performed on a database. A carefully constructed malicious request can create, modify or delete the data stored in the database, as well as read and extract data such as intellectual property, personal information of customers, administrative credentials or private business details.

Cross-site scripting (XSS) attacks

Cross-site scripting (XSS) attacks occur when an untrusted source is allowed to inject its own code into a web application and that malicious code is included with dynamic content delivered to a victim’s browser. This allows an attacker to execute malicious scripts written in various languages, like JavaScript, Java, Ajax, Flash and HTML, in another user’s browser.

XSS enables an attacker to steal session cookies, allowing the attacker to pretend to be the user, but it can also be used to spread malware, deface websites, create havoc on social networks, phish for credentials and—in conjunction with social engineering techniques—perpetrate more damaging attacks.

Botnets

A botnet comprises a collection of internet-connected computers and devices that are infected and controlled remotely by cybercriminals. They are often used to send email spam, engage in click fraud campaigns, and generate malicious traffic for DDoS attacks. The objective of creating a botnet is to infect as many connected devices as possible and to use the computing power and resources of those devices to automate and magnify malicious activities.

Preventing cyberattacks

The cybersecurity firm advised businesses experiencing a cyber attack to act fast. The goals should be to stop the attack and mitigate its impact:

Mobilise your team

The first thing to do is mobilise staff that have responsibility for cybersecurity. Ideally, they will have been trained to know how to respond in the event of an attack.

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TECHDIGEST – The Nigerian Communications Commission’s Computer Security Incident Response Team has urged organisations to adopt more robust cybersecurity measures to avoid cyber frauds and hackers.

According to the NCC, these measures include ensuring that organisations’ employees use strong, unique passwords for every account and enabling multi-factor authentication where it is supported to prevent “ransomware attacks”.

The NCC also urged organisations to ensure regular systems backup.

The NCC-CSIRT’s warning was contained in its advisory of August 12, 2022, after the “Yanluowang Threat”, where hackers gained access to Cisco’s network using an employee’s stolen credentials after hijacking the employee’s personal Google account containing credentials synced from their browser.

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TECHDIGEST – Researchers at Microsoft have warned Android users of malware called ‘toll fraud’ that disguises as normal apps on the Google Play Store and drains the wallet of users once installed. Microsoft describes toll fraud malware as a subcategory of billing fraud in which malicious applications subscribe users to premium services without their knowledge or consent.

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This type of malware is said to be one of the most prevalent types of Android malware – and it continues to evolve.

Compared to other subcategories of billing fraud, which include SMS fraud and call fraud, toll fraud has unique behaviours. Whereas SMS fraud or call fraud uses a simple attack flow to send messages or calls to a premium number, toll fraud has a complex multi-step attack flow that malware developers continue to improve.

Explaining how the malware operates, the researchers in a Microsoft blog post-https://www.microsoft.com/security/blog/2022/06/30/toll-fraud-malware-how-an-android-application-can-drain-your-wallet/, said,

”We saw new capabilities related to how this threat targets users of specific network operators. It performs its routines only if the device is subscribed to any of its target network operators. It also, by default, uses cellular connection for its activities and forces devices to connect to the mobile network even if a Wi-Fi connection is available.”

“Once the connection to a target network is confirmed, it stealthily initiates a fraudulent subscription and confirms it without the user’s consent, in some cases even intercepting the one-time password (OTP) to do so. It then suppresses SMS notifications related to the subscription to prevent the user from becoming aware of the fraudulent transaction and unsubscribing from the service,” they added.

How it gets to your phone

This type of attack starts when a user downloads an app the malware is disguised as in the Google Play Store.
These trojan apps will usually be listed in popular categories in the app store such as personalization (wallpaper and lock screen apps), beauty, editor, communication (messaging and chat apps), photography, and tools (like cleaner and fake antivirus apps).

The researchers say that these apps will ask for permissions that don’t make sense for what is being done (i.e. a camera or wallpaper app asking for SMS or notification listening privileges).

Protecting yourself against the malware

Microsoft in the security alert notes that toll fraud is one of the most common malware categories with high financial loss as its main impact. Due to its sophisticated cloaking techniques, prevention from the side of the user plays a key role in keeping the device secure.

According to the researchers, a rule of thumb is to avoid installing Android applications from untrusted sources (sideloading) and always follow up with device updates. They also recommend end-users take the following steps to protect themselves from toll fraud malware:

Install applications only from the Google Play Store or other trusted sources.

Avoid granting SMS permissions, notification listener access, or accessibility access to any applications without a strong understanding of why the application needs it. These are powerful permissions that are not commonly needed.

Use a solution such as Microsoft Defender for Endpoint on Android to detect malicious applications.

If a device is no longer receiving updates, strongly consider replacing it with a new device.

Source: Nairametric

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TECHDIGEST – Kaspersky research highlights that malware is rife across Africa with various countries exhibiting strong growth in all malware types in the first half of 2021, when compared to the same period last year. This is a 5% increase in the region, as cybercriminals and hackers continue to focus on African countries considering digital transformation advancements and the increase in remote working resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Overall, 4 countries account for 85 million attacks, with South Africa being the most targeted (32 million attacks), followed by Kenya (28.3 million), Nigeria (16.7 million) and Ethiopia (8 million). All countries but Kenya saw the relative growth of all malware attacks. Ethiopia and Nigeria have seen an increase of 20% and 23% respectively and South Africa an increase of 14%, while Kenya’s number of attacks decreased by 13%.

“Even though the scourge of malware has always been of concern, the past 12-months have highlighted how hackers are refocusing their efforts to compromise consumer and corporate systems and gain access to critical data and information. Given the growth of digital transformation across Africa since last year, the continent has become an attractive target for those looking to exploit a lack of user education and cybersecurity understanding. This has contributed to the large number of personal devices still not having any form of cybersecurity software installed,” says Bethwel Opil, Enterprise Sales Manager at Kaspersky in Africa.

“Malware can get onto a device in several ways. For example, clicking on an infected link or advert, opening an attachment in a spam email, or downloading a compromised app. This means proactive malware protection is essential to safeguard individual users and corporates against these threats,” adds Opil.

There are several best practices to consider when it comes to malware protection. Kaspersky recommends the following:

Install anti-virus software on every device that connects to the Internet. Kaspersky recommends Kaspersky Security Cloud (https://bit.ly/3gdPMKi).
Only download applications from trusted sites. Even then, always check the app permissions and, if certain things do not make sense, do not install the programme.
Never click on unverified links especially when coming from suspected spam emails, messages, or suspicious-looking Websites.
Keeping operation systems and applications always updated with the latest patches.

Be wary of using free Wi-Fi at coffee shops, restaurants, and other places as hackers can snoop for unprotected devices.

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