We’re excited to bring you the latest edition of the McAfee 2022 Consumer Mobile Threat Report. After all, when you know the challenges you face, it’s easier to be confident online. In this blog, we’ll take a closer look at some leading examples of techniques that cybercriminals are using to trick or defraud you via your mobile phone. These examples are some of the more sophisticated attacks, using real logos, quality graphics, and personalized messages. We hope this provides a useful resource for protecting your digital life, mobile devices, and personal information so that you can enjoy a safe life online with your family. 

Cybercriminals Take Their Scams to the Next Level

Cybercriminals are upping their game, using personal information and high-quality graphics to make their malware look like legitimate apps or official messages. Because these attacks are successful at defrauding significant numbers of mobile users out of their money and information, more criminals will jump on this approach or expand their malicious campaigns. Let’s take a look at some of the different techniques being used by scammers to fool mobile users.  

Smishing looks friendly but is just the opposite

Mobile smishing (aka phishing text messages) are attacks using personalized greetings in text messages that pretend to be from legitimate organizations to appear more credible. These messages often link to websites with authentic logos, icons, and other graphics, prompting the user to enter personal information or download an app. Users should be extra careful about text messages from unknown sources and should go directly to the organization’s website to validate requests. 

Mobile gaming scams pose as gamer help and cheating tools

Cheating tools and hacking apps are popular ways to get extra capabilities in mobile games. Criminals are exploiting this by promoting game hacking apps that include malicious code on legitimate messaging channels. If installed, the malware steals account credentials for social media and gaming accounts. Gamers should use caution when installing game hacks, especially if they request superuser permissions. 

 Crypto is popular and so are scams targeting it

Cryptocurrencies are providing new opportunities for mobile device attacks. The latest ploy is phony apps that promise to mine coins in the cloud for a monthly fee. Fake reviews and a low cost make them sound too good to be true—and they are. These apps just take the money without doing any coin mining. With no actual malicious code, these apps are hard to detect, so users should be suspicious of being promised hundreds or thousands of dollars of crypto coins for just a few dollars a month. 

Watch out for fake messaging apps

Another attack uses a variety of fake apps with slick graphics to trick users into premium subscriptions. Hundreds of these apps promise features such as mobile games or photo editing and are supported by plenty of fake five-star reviews. When installed, the apps ask for the user’s phone number and verification PIN and use them to sign up for premium text services that direct payments to the criminals. Users should read reviews looking for vague statements, repetitive wording, and a mix of five-star and one-star ratings. 

How to Protect Yourself 

While threat tactics continue to change as criminals adapt and respond to detection and enforcement techniques, there are a few steps users should take to limit their exposure and risk. 

Stay on the app stores

While some malicious apps do make it through the app store screening process, most of the attack downloads appear to be coming from social media, fake ads, and other unofficial app sources. Before downloading something to your phone, do some quick research about the source and developer. Many of these scams have been flagged by other people. 

Watch requests for settings and permissions

Many malicious apps get the access they need by asking the user to grant them permission to use unrelated privileges and settings. When installing a new app, take a few moments to read these requests and deny any that seem unnecessary, especially for superuser access and accessibility services.  

Update your software

Developers are actively working to identify and address security issues. Both operating systems and apps should be frequently updated so that they have the latest fixes and security protections. 

Be wary of too many five-star reviews

Cybercriminals often flood their Google Play apps with fake five-star reviews. Many fake or malicious apps only have a mix of five-star and one-star reviews. The five-star ones typically have vague statements and repetitive wording, giving clues that they are submitted by bots. Compare them to the one-star reviews for insight on the app’s real capabilities. 

Pay attention if your phone is acting funny

Devices that are behaving unusually may just have a basic tech issue but it can also be a sign of being hacked. Follow up when something is not quite right, check recent changes or contact tech support from the mobile device vendor or security software provider. 

Use security software

Comprehensive security software across all devices, whether they are computers, tablets, or smartphones, continues to be a strong defensive measure to protect your data and privacy from cyber threats. 

We hope this report helps you stay on the lookout for these and other mobile threats so you can safely and confidently enjoy your life online. For a deeper dive into the scams, you can view the full report here.  

The post McAfee 2022 Consumer Mobile Threat Report appeared first on McAfee Blog.

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While our tweens and tweens seem to grow into adults right before our eyes, their mobile usage matures into adulthood as well—and in many ways, we don’t see. 

Girls and boys hit their mobile stride right about the same point in life, at age 15 where their mobile usage jumps significantly and reaches a level that they carry into adulthood, which is one of the several findings we uncovered in our global survey of parents, tweens, and teens this year. 

So, what are tweens and teens up to on their mobile devices as they mature? And where do their parents fit in? We asked parents and kids alike. What we found gives us a look into the mobile lives of tweens and teens behind their lock screens. 

Mobile is the Most Important Device—Yet Far More So for Kids than Their Parents  

For starters, parents and their kids alike say that their mobile device is the most important one in their life. Parents placed mobile in their top two with their mobile device or smartphone at 59% followed their computer or laptop at 42%. Tweens and teens put their mobile device or smartphone at the top of the list as well, yet at a decisive 74% worldwide, followed by their gaming console at 68%.  

“Parents and their kids alike say that their mobile device is the most important thing in their life.”

Further, tweens and teens place a higher value on their smartphones to keep them connected with friends and family. Some 59% of parents said mobile was essential in this role, whereas tweens and teens put that figure at 64%. For parents, the runner-up device for keeping connected was the computer or laptop at 42%.  

Yet quite interestingly, tweens and teens said their second-most important device for keeping connected with others is their gaming console, at 40%, perhaps indicating gaming’s role in creating and fostering friendships today. Of course, plenty of that gaming is happening on mobile as well, with half of all tweens and teens surveyed worldwide saying that they play games on their smartphones. 

It’s No Secret—Kids Will Cover Their Tracks Online. But How? 

Broadly speaking, the activities kids do on their phones match up closely with what their parents think they’re doing on their phones. Yet there’s a fair share of secretive activity that happens within that. 

Regarding general activity, parents and their tween- and teen-aged children worldwide see eye to eye when it comes to what parents think are their kids’ favorite activities on mobile are and what kids say they actually are:   

Watching short videos (YouTube) – parents think, 66%; kids say 67%  
Browsing the internet – parents think, 64%; kids say 66% 
Streaming music – parents think, 53%; kids say 55% 

However, and perhaps unsurprisingly, tweens and teens say they’ve kept some the things they’re watching, browsing, and streaming from their parents. When asked if they sometimes hide specific online activity from their parents, 59% of tweens and teens worldwide said they have done so in some form or other, including: 

Clearing the browser history, 26% 
Close/minimize browser when parent walked in, 21% 
Hide or delete IMs or videos, 15% 
Lie or omit details about online activities, 15% 
Use a device their parents don’t check, 10% 

Keeping an Eye on the Kids: Parents Tend to Take a More Hands-on Approach to Monitoring Mobile 

Worldwide, monitoring apps rank relatively low when it comes to parents keeping tabs on their children’s mobile usage. Use of parental controls software on smartphones came in at a 27% global average, with India (37%) and France (33%) leading the way, while Japan fell on the low end (12%).  

Largely, parents appear to take up this work themselves, citing several other ways they take charge of their children’s time online:  

Limit the time of day or length of time when the child has screen time, 59% 
Check the websites or apps the child visits or uses, 56% 
Look at call records or text messages on a smartphone the child uses, 40% 
Friend or follow the child on social media sites, 35% 
Track the child’s location through GPS apps or software, 30% 

Children’s Mobile Devices are Less Protected—and Can Fall Victim to Hacks and Attacks as a Result 

Consistent with other research we recently gathered, families are relying on mobile more and more, yet this hasn’t seen an increase in mobile protection for the smartphones they count on.  

Our research published in early 20211 found double-digit increases in mobile activities such as online banking, shopping, finances, and doctor visits, all of which can generate high-value data that are attractive to hackers and cybercriminals. Despite this newfound reliance on mobile, many smartphones worldwide remain unprotected. Children’s phones are less protected than their parents’ phones as well. 

Taken together, these security lapses can lead to downloaded malware, data and identity theft, illicit crypto mining apps on the device, and other attacks that can put children and families at risk. 

Misconceptions about online protection may play a role in these lax measures. This survey found that 49% of parents think a new phone is more secure than a new computer, and 59% of tweens and teens thought the new phone was more secure—both denying the reality that smartphones, and the people using them, are subject to hacks and attacks just like with any other device that connects to the internet.  

Amid this climate, more than 1/3 of families reported that a child in their household had been the victim of a financial information leak and 15% stated that there’d been an attempt to steal a child’s online account or identity. With smartphones providing children with a major onramp to the internet, it follows that stronger mobile security could help prevent such attacks from happening. 

Tweens and Teens in Several Countries Lean Heavily on Mobile for Online Learning 

Protecting mobile devices and the family members who count on them takes on further importance when we consider that children in some nations rely heavily on their smartphones for online learning. 

Although using mobile for online learning was relatively low globally at 23%, parents and children in three nations reported a high rate of attending classes and courses on mobile—with India at 54%, Mexico at 42%, and Brazil at 39%, once again posing the possibility that mobile offers many children the most reliable broadband connection required for such instruction. In other words, there are households where broadband comes by way of mobile, rather than a cable or fiber connection. 

Meanwhile, other nations saw significantly lower figures for online learning on mobile, such as Germany at 7%, France at 8%, and Japan at 11%. The U.S., Canada, and the UK all reported rates of 17%. 

Nurturing Your Kids on Mobile: They’re Growing Before Your Eyes 

“With smartphones providing children as a major onramp to the internet, it follows that stronger mobile security could prevent such attacks from happening”

Something we’ve yet to mention here is how much online shopping and banking kids are doing on their mobile devices. No question, tweens and teens are doing those things too at a global rate of 25% and 12% across all age groups respectively. Not surprisingly, those numbers climb as teens approach adulthood. This serves as a reminder that our children are maturing hand-in-hand with their smartphones, which asks a few things of us as parents as they grow and adjust to their mobile world. 

As with all things parenting, there are moments of where you have a sense of what’s right for you and your child, yet you’re uncertain how to act on it. That’s definitely the case with smartphones and the internet in general. Despite having grown up alongside the internet over the course of our adult lives, we can still have plenty of questions. New ones. Old ones. Ones we weren’t even aware of until they cropped up. 

With that, we’re glad you’re dropping by our blog. And you’re more than invited to visit whenever you can. A big focus of ours is providing you, as a parent, with resources that answer your questions, in addition to articles about online protection in general that simply make for good reading. Our aim is to help you think about what’s best for your family and give you some ideas about how you can see that through, particularly as our children grow in this mobile world of ours. For a deeper dive, you can view the full report here.

The post A Look Beyond Their Lock Screens: The Mobile Activity of Tweens and Teens appeared first on McAfee Blog.

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The story is an old one, but the tech gives it a bunch of new twists:

Gemma Brett, a 27-year-old designer from west London, had only been working at Madbird for two weeks when she spotted something strange. Curious about what her commute would be like when the pandemic was over, she searched for the company’s office address. The result looked nothing like the videos on Madbird’s website of a sleek workspace buzzing with creative-types. Instead, Google Street View showed an upmarket block of flats in London’s Kensington.

[…]

Using online reverse image searches they dug deeper. They found that almost all the work Madbird claimed as its own had been stolen from elsewhere on the internet — and that some of the colleagues they’d been messaging online didn’t exist.

[…]

At least six of the most senior employees profiled by Madbird were fake. Their identities stitched together using photos stolen from random corners of the internet and made-up names. They included Madbird’s co-founder, Dave Stanfield — despite him having a LinkedIn profile and Ali referring to him constantly. Some of the duped staff had even received emails from him.

Read the whole sad story. What’s amazing is how shallow all the fakery was, and how quickly it all unraveled once people started digging. But until there’s suspicion enough to dig, we take all of these things at face value. And in COVID times, there’s no face-to-face anything.

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The Cyber Explorers program aims to educate 30,000 11 to 14-year-olds on a range of cybersecurity concepts to boost the skills pipeline

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This blog was written by an independent guest blogger.

It’s an unfortunate truth that healthcare remains a top target of hackers/ransomware. A recent research report from Cynerio found that 53% of connected medical devices have a known critical vulnerability, and a third of bedside healthcare devices – which patients most depend on for optimal health outcomes – have an identified critical risk.  The threat is not only the device being rendered inoperable or corrupted; these devices are connected to the hospital LAN, and a security gap at the bedside becomes an open door into the hospital network.  Once inside the network, a hacker can capture sensitive patient data and bring hospital operations to a halt.  As it takes an average of 287 days to uncover a breach, the result can be devastating.  Hospital and healthcare providers are in weak position— yield to hackers or risk patient lives. 

Some of the other notable healthcare IoT vulnerabilities highlighted by the Cynerio report include:

IV pumps – The most common Healthcare IoT device and possess a lion’s share of risk: IV pumps make up 38% of a hospital’s typical healthcare IoT footprint and 73% of those have a vulnerability that could jeopardize patient safety, data confidentiality, or service availability if it were to be exploited by an adversary. 
Healthcare IoT running outdated Windows versions dominate devices in critical care Sectors: Devices running versions older than Windows 10 account for the majority of devices used by pharmacology, oncology, and laboratory devices, and make up a plurality of devices used by radiology, neurology, and surgery departments, leaving patients connected to these devices vulnerable. 

Default passwords remain a common risk: The most common IoMT and IoT device risks are connected to default passwords and settings that attackers can often obtain easily from manuals posted online, with 21% of devices secured by weak or default credentials.

AT&T’s cybersecurity experts offer unique solutions to mitigate risk, secure the network and prevent costly hacks and breaches. We empower healthcare organizations to stay compliant and proactively manage every connection on their own terms with real-time IoT attack detection and response and rapid risk reduction tools, so that they can focus on healthcare’s top priority: delivering quality patient care. Watch an on-demand demo presentation from AT&T partner Ivanti to learn more about how to secure healthcare IoT effectively against the rising tide of ransomware and breaches targeting hospitals.  Your AT&T Cybersecurity representative can assist with a limited-time no-charge Risk Assessment, and will be available at ViVE March 6-9 and HIMSS March 14-17.

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Russian malware is designed to compromise SOHO devices

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