Financial threats in 2022: Financial systems jeopardized, cryptocurrency attacks and infostealers on the rise

Woburn, MA – November 23, 2021 – Today Kaspersky released its Cyberthreats to Financial Organizations in 2022 report, featuring predictions from the Global Research and Analysis Team (GReAT). Those include that state-sponsored groups will target the cryptocurrency industry, while cybercriminals will take advantage of investors by fabricating rogue wallets with backdoors. There will also be a growth of attacks against payment systems and more advanced mobile threats.

2021 was a year of challenge, novelty and continuous adaptation cybercriminals. Since most of them are motivated by money, financial threats have always been one of the most significant parts of the threat landscape. Reflecting on the significant events and trends that shaped the financial threats’ sector in 2021, Kaspersky researchers have forecasted several important tendencies they expect in 2022. Here are their key predictions:

·       Targeted cryptocurrency attacks grow. Since cryptocurrency is a digital asset and all transactions take place online, it offers anonymity to users. These are attractive features for cybercrime groups, and state-sponsored threat actors have also targeted this industry. We have already witnessed APT groups starting to attack the cryptocurrency business aggressively, and we anticipate that this activity will continue.

·       Fake hardware wallets emerge. Cybercriminals keep coming up with new ways to steal investors' financial assets. Kaspersky researchers predict that they will manufacture and sell rogue devices with backdoors, followed by social engineering campaigns and other techniques to steal victims' financial assets. 

·       Infostealers accelerate and consolidate. The simplicity, affordability, and effectiveness of infostealers means they will be used at least as a first-stage data collector in attacks against financial assets. Different threat actors will take this approach, in order to profile victims for further attacks. These will include targeted Ransomware attacks, traditional targeted attacks, and others. 

·       Mobile implants develop. After the pandemic drove mobile banking adoption, more mobile banking Trojans will emerge for the Android platform, especially RATs that can circumvent bank security measures, such as OTP and MFA. Regional Android implant projects will move globally, exporting attacks to Western Europe and other countries worldwide. 

"This year has been challenging for many organizations: handling remote access for ad-hoc employees, patching hard systems connected to the Internet to endure ransomware attacks, dealing with a substantial increase of mobile banking and its malware implants,” said Dmitry Bestuzhev, head of Kaspersky’s Global Research and Analysis Team (GReAT) in Latin America. “And cybercriminals have not been shy of taking advantage of attacking markets. We have watched very regional cybercriminals shifting to other world regions making cybersecurity people work harder. Therefore, it is crucial to establish the principal leaning in a developing landscape of financial threats and share our expertise to help businesses become prepared, so they understand how to protect from before-mentioned threats.”

Financial predictions are part of Kaspersky’s Vertical Threat Predictions for 2022, one of the segments of the Kaspersky Security Bulletin (KSB), an annual series of predictions and analytical reports on key shifts in the cybersecurity world. Follow this link for other KSB pieces.

To review what Kaspersky experts expected to see in 2021, please follow this link.

About Kaspersky

Kaspersky is a global cybersecurity and digital privacy company founded in 1997. Kaspersky’s deep threat intelligence and security expertise is constantly transforming into innovative security solutions and services to protect businesses, critical infrastructure, governments and consumers around the globe. The company’s comprehensive security portfolio includes leading endpoint protection and a number of specialized security solutions and services to fight sophisticated and evolving digital threats. Over 400 million users are protected by Kaspersky technologies and we help 240,000 corporate clients protect what matters most to them. Learn more at usa.kaspersky.com.

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