Weekly News Digest #67

Cyberattacks targeting Ukraine are likely to heat 

In case current tensions between Ukraine and Russia became worse, Western countries should be prepared for the risk of more cyber and ransomware attacks targeting Ukraine. Russia is likely to utilize the capacity of its cyber and disinformation armies to sow confusion and disaccord among the Western supporters of Ukraine. An associate professor and national security expert at the University of New Haven, Connecticut share his opinion that the Western community could expect high-level cyberattacks against Ukraine. 

The United States, Canada, and other Western countries are deeply concerned about the possible launch of cyberattacks against Ukraine by Russia. The USA and Britain have already dispatched their cyber warfare teams to the Eastern European countries to assist them in bolstering their cyber defence and prevent attacks such as the one that took place in 2015 and targeted the Ukrainian power grid.

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What to Expect in 2022: More crypto scams, more fakes, more fraud

The Identity Theft Resource Center in San Diego predicts that malicious actors will shift their attention from identity theft to identity fraud. Although cybercriminals are accumulating personal identifying information, they do not use it to target users as they used to do it before. At the same time, they are using this information in credential attacks targeting businesses. The increase in fraud in 2022 is likely to make users withdraw from certain kinds of online activity. 

Some consumers are likely to rethink their online purchases due to improvement in quality and ease of phishing attacks. Consumers are also likely to change their approach to communication. Ransomware is likely to surpass phishing-related breaches. The number of consumers compromised by online fraudsters may significantly increase in 2022.

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DDoS attacks are targeting online gamers

The Covid-19 pandemic has dramatically changed the behavioural patterns of people. Now many people spend their time online since alternatives are not possible. As a result, online gaming and gambling have demonstrated skyrocketing growth in 2021. At the same time, this behavioural change has led to an increase in the number of cyberattacks that can evade conventional cybersecurity measures. Denial of services attacks have already overwhelmed online services thereby putting strain on global supply chains and networks. 

Over the past decade, DDoS attacks targeting individual players have become so widespread. Victims are put in direct view of malicious actors when they use one-on-one sessions and voice messaging services. Gamers that use private servers face the risk of unintentional disclosure of their IP address and information to other fellow players as well as administrators. The risk of information disclosure is also attributable to third-party messaging apps used by groups of players. After identifying the target’s IP address, malicious actors can launch DDoS attacks targeting the target’s specific devices. 

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Top 5 most popular NFT scams in 2021

People worldwide pay millions of dollars in crypto for NFT collectibles and art. NFTs have been around for a few years. The most popular scams to target users in the coming future:

• Replica stores: scammers create websites that fully resemble the original ones to trick users to give their private data or credit card information;
• Fake NFT stores: a variation of the replica NFT stores. These stores may use non-affiliated logos and content and they are likely to sell NFTs that do not even exist;
• Artist impersonation or counterfeit NFTs: users face difficulties when trying to verify a seller on online marketplaces;
• Airdrops/Giveaways: NFT scams accompany NFTs. Malicious actors are targeting crypto enthusiasts by offering them free NFTs/Crypto related to NFT marketplaces;
• Brand impersonation on social media: scammers create so-called “official support” or “official community” groups of the targeted brand to carry out scam activities.

In the coming future, scams and frauds related to NFTs are likely to become more complicated and sophisticated.

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5 cybersecurity trends to look at in 2022

The global cybersecurity industry has experienced significant chaos in 2021. Based on the opinion provided by experts, Threatpost has developed its list of top 5 trends to watch in 2022:

• Growing interest towards cybersecurity from the side of government;
• Social-engineering endures;
• New forms of ransomware targeting supply chains;
• Ransomware-as-a-service actors targeting SMBs;
• Improved coordination between cybersecurity industry players. 

Only by securing the entire supply chain companies can protect themselves from bad actors in 2022. 

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