*Malware threats  exceed 325,000 daily—Kaspersky lab report

By Emeka Aginam

Despite efforts to fix vulnerabilities by security solution and internet service providers, e-mail, system and  mobile phone hacking are  increasing by the day,  leading to  loss of sensitive data and money  for both  organizations and individuals.

Although vulnerabilities are not limited to mobile phones or e-mail users alone, organizations and businesses  are not left out.

This development, according to Vanguard Hi-Tech finding  has continued to worry both security solution providers, individuals and organizations around the world.

Meanwhile, Kaspersky Labs had reported that 295,000 new mobile malicious programs were detected in 2014, almost three times the number found the year before.

The report further added that  its security software had fended off about 1.4 million attacks on smartphones.

McAfee, which is owned by Intel said it had detected four million such attacks so far last year  and expects that number to grow exponentially in the coming years as cyber criminals begin using ready-to-use hacker kits designed to make stealing data even simpler.

Meanwhile, for  quite sometimes now, Yahoo Mail users have been attacked by hackers.But one this clear, according to security experts.  hackers are in to explore flaws  in the computer.

Accordingly, the emails either include an attachment or a link to a website. The attachment or link contain malicious software which will enable the sender  to take over your computer. Some of the emails may  claim to be from the government, people you know,  bank, UPS, or even an office scanner.

Attacks typically consist of  email  users receiving an email from a friend or colleague and sometimes a completely unknown person  containing a link that if clicked on, results in the account being hijacked.

Typical example is a hacked  email account sending  emails to millions of contact in the guise that he or she is stranded in a particular location that requires urgent financial bail out. Another typical example is contract scam where an  unidentified third party gains access to somebody email using it to send a content titled “Contract Document” that requires urgent attention.

“My e-mail has been hacked. Please, ignore any mail sent from  my mail”,  a victim who pleased anonymous told Sun Tech news.

According to the victim, the hacker had sent mail to people in relation to contract document which he explained  did not originate from him.

A normal  letter sent to friend recently has this message.”Good-morning.Kindly refer to the attached contract document and treat as urgent the hard copy would be forwarded to you later in the day. Thanks”

Similarly,  Ekene Okeke, a business man based in Lagos   whose mobile device was hacked recently also told his sad story.

“My phone was hacked recently by hackers. Iam afraid of the sensitive information in my phone. To stay safe, i had flash  my phone and also put anti-virus. People must be aware of the ongoing cyber war. It is increasing by the day”, he said.

According to him,  hacker s can steal sensitive bank  information and use it against the victim.

Many individuals, according to Vanguard Hi-Tech finding have been victims of this kind of vulnerability.

With threat level increasing, security experts have warned on the need for people to protect their system from  vulnerability  by changing their password from time to time and ignoring emails from unknown sources.

Just recently at  the just concluded Kaspersky Lab Partner event targeted at showcasing the advantages of Kaspersky endpoint security for Business to prospective enterprise clients held in  Lagos,  Zenith Technology,  local IT  provider  in the country reported that malware targeting individuals and businesses now exceed 325,000 unique threats everyday.

Worried by  the ugly trend,  the Product Manager of Zenith Technology  Olamide Odeneye at the forum emphasized the importance of Kaspersky endpoint security solution for businesses.

She told the gathering that every business irrespective of the size is always at the risk of attack from malware threats.

While financial institutions remain target of attack, she said  that Kaspersky boasts a comprehensive list of technologies, all working together from  the same codebase and further assisted by cloud based Kaspersky security network to give customers the expected protection needed.

While threat level is increasing by the day ,  she said that Kaspersky has the capacity to protect every organization against threats be it physical, virtual, mobile devices, mail systems, servers, gateways and share points portals.

She explained that experts at Kaspersky Lab were concerned about these threats and the risk they pose to businesses.

According to her, Kaspersky offers the world leading threat intelligence  needed by organizations.To stay safe ,  she noted that organizations must ensure that their IT security strategy meet three key criteria including access to superior threat intelligence, tools and techniques to detect and eliminate known, unknown and advanced malware, and technology to reach across physical, mobile, and virtual endpoints seamlessly and efficiently through a single platform with no software conflicts multiple consoles or security gaps.

Warning that organizations should  not compromise on security against known, unknown and advanced threats, she  said that the industry leading performance of the anti-malware engine built into the Kaspersky endpoint security for business platform is proven through multiple  ongoing independent tests.