ted last year the emergence of new tech-
niques to use digital currency by online
hackers to conduct illegal transactions
and money laundering operations. Addi-
tionally, there was an increase in destruc-
tion of the digital signature, “TRUST”, on
which the Internet has relied for a long
time. Moreover, the number of digitally
signed malware samples has increased
by 50 percent to reach 1.5 million new
samples.
Diab expected the number of attacks tar-
geting mobile devices, particularly smart-
phones to double in 2014 in addition to the
spread of Ransomware.
On his part, Justin Doo, Security Prac-
tice Director - MENA of Symantec said
that 2013 witnessed the doubling of the
number of smartphone users in the Mid-
dle East and Gulf region, and the UAE is
considered the biggest market in this field
both regionally and globally. The rate of
smartphone users in the UAE reaches
about 200% of the total population, where
smartphones constitute 70% of the total
number of phones.
He continued saying that “this spread is
a huge opportunity for data hackers es-
pecially that these devices are the usual
companion for their users unlike desktops
or laptops. The problem is that there is not
enough security protection for such de-
vices.”
He noted that “data hackers have delib-
erately used tactics that are more tempt-
ing to the users. In order to breach the
devices and get access to information,
hackers relied on promoting applications
on the operating system that appear to be
in the interest of the user. Among such ap-
plications is “I LIKE”, which allows users
of the social media platforms “Twitter” and
“Instagram” to get a large number of fans
for their accounts. By simply sending their
username and password to the application
developer in Russia, “likes” start to heap
upon the account. However, in return, the
hacker gets the green light to breach the
account and collect personal data.”
He also noted that according to what the
company laboratory has found online, this
type of software is increasing each day,
and we mean thousands of such software
daily. Therefore, the only solution for this
is to develop of a security level compatible
with the degree of dependence on such
devices.
Tarek Abdalla, Head of Marketing for
Google, MENA said that, “according to
the statistics conducted by the company
that owns Android operating system, 1.5
million Android devices are activated daily
worldwide and that includes smartphones
and tablets”.
:
30% increase in the num-
ber of malicious attacks
on smart devices
:
The spread of malicious appli-
cations targeting users’ data
:
Activating 1.5 million
Android devices daily
New ways to use digital
currency in illegal
transactions
Hamed Diab
Justin Doo
19
February
2014
