Cyber Threat Landscape in South Africa: What You Need to Know

Papi Mabele — Wed, 10 Jan 2024 14:47:38 +0000

Check Point Software Technologies, a global leader in cybersecurity solutions, recently published its Global Threat Index for December 2023, shedding light on the evolving cyber threat landscape. For South Africa, this report is particularly crucial as it outlines the most targeted industries and countries on the continent.

In the African context, the Communications, Utilities, and Government/Military sectors are identified as the most targeted industries, with Financial Services closely following. Among the most targeted countries in Africa are Ethiopia (2nd) and Nigeria (10th), showcasing the region’s vulnerability to malware attacks.

South Africa, ranked 70th globally, stands out as a focal point in the report. The country’s cybersecurity landscape is in the spotlight as organizations need to be vigilant against emerging threats. The Check Point report emphasizes the significance of a preventative approach to endpoint security and the necessity for due diligence on email origins and intent.

The threat landscape in December saw the resurgence of Qbot malware, employed in limited-scale phishing attacks targeting the hospitality sector. Meanwhile, JavaScript downloader FakeUpdates claimed the top spot globally, impacting 2% of organizations. South African organizations should take note of these developments to bolster their cybersecurity defenses.

The report also highlights the most exploited vulnerabilities globally, with South African organizations urged to pay attention to potential weaknesses. Notably, the report emphasizes the importance of staying informed about emerging mobile malware threats, with Anubis maintaining its position as the most prevalent mobile malware.

These 10 Android apps are a security risk

Papi Mabele — Mon, 07 Dec 2020 19:41:57 +0000

Researchers at Check Point, one of the leaders in Cyber Security, have confirmed that popular applications on Google’s Play Store continue to be vulnerable to the known vulnerability CVE-2020-8913, which means that millions of Android users are still at significant security risk.

The flaw is rooted in Google’s widely used Play Core library, which lets developers push in-app updates and new feature modules to their Android apps. The vulnerability makes it possible to add executable modules to any apps using the library.

An attacker who has a malware app installed on the victim’s device could steal users’ private information, such as login details, passwords, financial details, and read their mail.

The apps discovered to be vulnerable are:

Social – Viber
Travel – Booking
Business – Cisco Teams
Maps and Navigation – Yango Pro (Taximeter), Moovit
Dating – Grindr, OKCupid, Bumble
Browsers – Edge
Utilities – Xrecorder, PowerDirector

But, let’s be honest, what does the impact present itself as? The malicious files can inject code into banking applications to grab credentials, while it also have SMS permissions to steal the Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) codes. In addition, it can inject code into social media applications to spy on the victim and use location access to track the device while on IM apps it can grab all messages, and possibly send messages on the victim’s behalf.

Check Point – TWFLD

Cyber Threat Landscape in South Africa: What You Need to Know

These 10 Android apps are a security risk