The country is a leader in Latin America, having suffered 3,370,471 bank attacks in the last 12 months
A survey conducted by digital security firm Kaspersky has shown that Brazil was the leader in banking attacks in Latin America last year. The data was presented this Tuesday (20), during Cyber Security Week (CSW 2024), an event promoted in Cartagena, Colombia.
Fabio Assolini, Kaspersky’s director of research and analysis for Latin America, explained that last year the region was attacked by 1,157,110,256 malware. The number represents a 3.2% growth compared to the same period from 2022 to 2023. For comparison, there are 3,170,165 attacks per day or 36.6 per second.
Attacks on banks
When it comes to banking Trojans, Brazil is the record holder in Latin America. In the period from 2023 to 2024, there were 1.6 million attacks. Mexico suffered 242 thousand, and Colombia came in third, with 107 thousand. In total, the region suffered 3,370,471 banking attacks.
The most common is a type of virus from the grandoreiro family, a Trojan originating from Brazil that, according to Kaspersky data, has been active since at least 2016.
Of the 18 most common banking Trojan families in Latin America, 13 are Brazilian. The main banking Trojan is responsible for 16.83% of attacks. Last year, this type of virus ranked 9th.
How does it work?
This type of attack typically begins with a spear-phishing email (highly personalized cyber attacks targeting specific people or companies) written in Spanish, Portuguese, or English.
Once installed on the victim’s computer, the Trojan tracks keyboard inputs, simulates mouse activity, shares screenshots, collects data such as usernames, operating system information, device runtime, and most importantly, banking identifiers.
Yuri do Amaral Nobre Maia, head of the Brazilian Federal Police’s High-Tech Crime Investigation Service, explained that once cybercriminals have full control over victims’ bank accounts, they empty them, sending funds through a network of money mules to launder the illicit proceeds.
Source: Terra
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