India witnesses 253% increase in Online Banking Cyber Threats in Q3, Trend Micro Report

 With the latest Q3 Security Round-up report by Trend Micro, it has been revealed that the online banking malware volume surged this quarter. They spread across the globe and no longer concentrated on certain regions like Europe and the Americas. Trend Micro continued to see this trend, with infection counts going beyond the 200,000 mark, the highest infection number since 2002.

A large portion of online banking malware infections were due to ZeuS/ZBOT Trojans. ZeuS/ZBOT variants were, in fact, the most distributed malware by spam this quarter. New ZBOT variants emerged, specifically KINS malware, which came armed with anti-debugging and anti-analysis routines.

Dhanya Thakkar, Managing Director, India & SAARC, Trend Micro, explained, "Threat actors are pouncing on users' banking transactions, with the likes of FAKEBANK and FAKETOKEN malware threatening users. As with other app types, users may encounter Trojanized or fake apps disguised as legitimate banking apps. Cybercriminals will use different tricks to mimic legitimate apps. They can use the same images and icons or closely imitate the publisher's name."

He added, "During installation, it replaces parts of legitimate banking app files with malicious code, but it does not modify their icons and user interface. Once users access these apps, they unwittingly give out their account information. Aside from this, FAKEBANK also steals call logs and received text messages."

The report also highlights banking malware infection counts going beyond the 200,000 mark globally. The highest infection number since 2002 and Apple-related phishing sites have remained steady throughout Q3 with 4,100 detected in July, 1,900 in August and 2,500 in September.