25% Surge in cybercrimes ahead of Black Friday – Kaspersky reports

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All right, 21 minutes past seven o'clock here on Power Business with Mino Supercatebe. And now Kaspersky, a global cybersecurity firm, has recently reported a nearly 25% surge in retail-focused cyber threats as we approach Black Friday. Now, with over 38 million phishing attacks detected this year alone, cyber criminals are seemingly ramping up their efforts to exploit the surge in online shopping.

Now, David M, principal security researcher at Kaspersky joins us on the line to share some insights. David, a very good evening and welcome to Power Business. Good evening. Now, David Kaspersky reporting a nearly 25% surge then in retail focus, cyber threats ahead of Black Friday. Can you explain then the key factors driving this increase in cyber crime activity, especially during high demand shopping events like Black Friday?

Yeah, absolutely. Well, you know, in recent years, we've seen an increasing focus on online shopping. And, you know, most people now engaging online shopping probably more than they do on sort of traditional high street shops. So that really is reflected in these numbers. So it's becoming Black Friday in particular. It's becoming such a kind of major focus now. It's a major focus point in the year where people spend money.

And that's what the cyber criminals are going after. They recognize what an important time it is for people looking to get bargains, looking to kind of do their Christmas shopping, and therefore they see potential, a potential big pool of victims that they can latch on to and steal their money from them.

Yeah. And I guess that with most people, you know, that frenzy of trying to secure a deal, most people have their guard down when they are, you know, using these online platforms. But one of the most common scams involves impersonating major retailers such as Amazon and Walmart. David, what are some of the red flags consumers should look out for to avoid falling for these deceptive websites and emails?

Well, you know, there's no doubt that there are deals to be had at this time of the year, of course, but on the whole, if something looks too good to be true, the chances are it is too good to be true. And, you know, what people can sort of look out for and what they can expect really is to be getting messages. It could be through social media, it could be email, it could be pop-ups on websites, which are pretending to be from a retailer offering a great deal

And there's an inherent danger in that, because you didn't initiate that transaction. So you haven't chosen to go to a particular web address. You haven't chosen to go looking for something. You're responding to what you think is legitimate. And as you rightly said, people get caught off guard. This time or the other, they're very busy. They've got to tick off their list of people to buy for. They're looking for good deals. And therefore, they can be easily caught off guard. And so a big red flag is,

did I start this process or did somebody else? And actually, if they started the process, it doesn't necessarily mean there isn't a good deal. But rather than clicking on the link and responding to what could be a fraudulent message, it's much, much better for you to go to that retailer's website using something from favorites or bookmarks. In other words, the address that you know is legitimate. Because if they're touting a good deal, it'll be available on the website that you know and

You don't necessarily need to respond to something in medicine.

Yeah, that is true. But it looks like we're losing your line there, David. I'm not sure if, okay, it looks like we're going to try to get David on a better line, because I really do want to know, you find out the sort of trends, what's happening there in terms of cyber threats, what are the trends that they're picking up, how they evolved from previous years, and what makes this year, I guess, particularly significant.

But as a David Artline, you know, if you see the email with the steal telling you to click here, I guess it is prudent of you to go and check because on the website, the actual sort of store or retailer will probably still have that deal there. And you can always pick it up from there. But it looks like David, we've got you on a better line.

David, so I wanted to, your line, I cut off towards the end, but we got the gist of what you were saying. But I want to know, you know, on the next then, you know, on cyber threat trends, how has the landscape of fishing, you know, attacks evolved in 2024 compared to previous years? And what makes this year, I guess, particularly significant? Well, you know, I think this year was seen about 38 million fishing attacks.

over the last 12 months. So we kind of do this kind of take on, what have we been seeing over the past year? We do this each year. And certainly this year we've seen, I'd say 38 million fishing attacks. And I think this is reflective of the fact that people now are focusing so much more on online retail activity. And therefore, it's much more worthwhile to go after as in that sort of way. And they're targeting big retailers like

like Walmart, you know, like Etsy, like Amazon, all of the sort of the big retail giants that we're expecting to spend money with, it's worth their while to impersonate them because they want to get a cut up for money that we want to spend thinking we're doing with the legitimate retailers. I think the other thing I would point out too is fishing isn't always the only way that these people can target us. You know, we see what are called banking trojans. These are malicious programs

which get installed on our device, and they sit there waiting for us to log in to a bank, let's say, or to another account, where we've got money associated with it, let's say, an Amazon account, and they capture our login credentials so that they can then impersonate us, get access to that account, and steal our funds. And I guess on that note, then, you know, how effective are cybersecurity measures in deterring these crimes, and where are the current gaps?

Well, you know, I think one of the key things is to make sure that every device that you are going to use to engage in any kind of online interaction is protected, that you've got antivirus on there. Now, people routinely, I think now, you know, realize the need for antivirus on a desktop or a laptop, but actually increasingly we're seeing scammers focus on mobile devices because they know that's what we're using a lot of the time. So that perhaps is one of the bigger trends that we've seen this year compared to previous ones.

is much more of a focus on the mobile environment. And people don't routinely protect their mobile devices, but really they should. So I think protecting the device, that's one of the key ones. I think also this idea that if something looks too good to be true, probably it is. And there will be a bit more where we go to the retailers site, check out if the offer is available, knowing the trusted URL or address that you're using. That's really important too. And I think

You know, people just need to generally just be on their guard and realize that actually, you know, don't overshare information and just be wary about where you're going in order to do your online shopping. Yeah. And then finally, you know, speaking of the trends, what trends do you anticipate then in cyber crime over the next year, especially in the retail and online shopping sectors? Well, I think we will definitely see a continuation of this focus on mobile devices.

A, because people are increasingly using them to engage in online shopping. Second, because criminals know that people don't routinely protect them, and therefore that provides a sort of window of opportunity for them really to exploit. So I think we will continue to see that sort of focus. That doesn't mean they won't be focusing on traditional devices as well, because they will.

And I think, you know, the other thing I think is worth pointing out, of course, right at this time of the year, we're all looking at Black Friday as this kind of centre point when we're, you know, whether we recognise Black Friday or not, it's a time of the year when we're looking to buy online more than we normally would. But of course, it's not the only time of the year where criminals are going to hulk at on it. It could be Valentine's Day, it could be Christmas itself, it could be

you know, events like the World Cup or the Olympics, it could be natural disasters that have occurred and people pretending to be charities. So whenever there is that kind of big issue in the press or a big current in the calendar, they tend to be the hooks that the criminals will focus on. Yeah. And I guess staying vigilant is a key there. But that's all the time we have this evening. David, thank you so much for your insights.

That's my pleasure. Fantastic. That was David M, principal security researcher at Kaspersky, taking us through the report, finding that 25% surge in cyber crimes ahead of Black Friday, how to stay vigilant during this season.