Mobile devices and financial institutions became primary targets for cybercriminals to steal money directly from individuals in 2015, according to a new report from Kaspersky Labs, which took a look at the type of cyber events that occurred most frequently this year and made predictions for the future.
While data breaches at large retailers seem to grab headlines and prompt litigation, Kaspersky found that targeted advanced persistent threat (APT) attacks against banks, government agencies, and other high-profile organizations rose in 2015. Not content to steal names, addresses, Social Security numbers, and other personally identifiable information, criminals interested in money and state secrets more assertively entered the cyber fray this year.
The firm highlighted attacks on financial institutions that netted a cybercrime gang nearly $1 billion during 2015. Called “Carbanak,” criminals deposited malware by sending email attachments to bank employees. This simple tactic spread exponentially throughout banks’ systems.
“Once installed on a bank’s computer, the attackers carried out reconnaissance to identify systems related to processing, accounting and ATMs and simply mimicked the activities of legitimate employees,” said Kaspersky in its report. “Carbanak used three methods to steal money: (1) dispensing cash from ATMs, (2) transferring money to cybercriminals using the SWIFT network and (3) creating fake accounts and using mule services to collect the money.”
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Erin is the managing editor of Advisen’s Front Page News. She has been covering property-casualty insurance since 2000. Previously, Erin served as editor-in-chief of The Standard, New England’s Insurance Weekly. Erin is based in Boston, Mass. Contact Erin at [email protected].
