Cybercrime not slowing down anytime soon

In Q3 2016, cybercriminals were increasingly more ingenious, using innovative technologies and new tools to spread their wares. This is confirmed by the 18 million new malware samples captured by PandaLabs in this quarter alone, an average of 200,000 each day.

Measuring cybercrime is very complex. Cybersecurity professionals who combat these threats on a daily basis understand its mass and know that it is an industry that continues to grow and evolve. But is it really that dangerous? According to the National Crime Agency of the United Kingdom, cybercrime currently makes up more than 50% of the crimes committed in the UK.

In the past few months, DDoS attacks have spread and have uncovered a number of DDoS businesses that have led massive attacks that have earned them up to $618,000.

In Taiwan, Dozens of First Bank ATMs were completely emptied this quarter, proving that cybercriminals still have their eyes set on financial entities. On another front, one of the biggest bitcoin robberies in history took place this quarter and an equivalent of 60 million dollars in Bitcoins was stolen.

Analyzing game sites, we have seen a number of them become massive data warehouses for sensitive information and been exposed as relatively easy targets for cybercriminals. The main victim of this quarter is Yahoo, who suffered the biggest theft of its kind in history. 500 million Yahoo accounts were compromised.

In the coming years, new threats and attacks will emerge due to the growing Internet of Things and mobile devices.

There are more and more domestic appliances that are connected to our home networks. There is already a way to control the thermostat and raise the temperature to 99 degrees Fahrenheit, then request a ransom to return it to its initial state.

In Q3, PandaLabs also detected frightening ways a person’s life can be threatened if their car is compromised. If a connected car is compromised, those who are in the vehicle may be in danger. Researchers have discovered that reverse engineering can be used to override car signals and tell the parking brake not to activate, disable the steering wheel, and make the wheel turn at any speed on command.

In August, Apple urgently published the iOS version 9.3.5 for its mobile device operating system. Apple is one of the latest businesses to start a rewards program, offering up to $200,000 to researchers who are able to find vulnerabilities in their products.