With the Increase in Online Activity During the Pandemic, Cybercriminals Are Finding New and Innovative Ways to Target Customers
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A GULF NEWS SPONSORED SUPPLEMENT Tuesday, October 20, 2020 With the increase in online activity during the pandemic, cybercriminals are finding new and innovative ways to target customers PAGE 2 2 Tuesday, October 20, 2020 dle East and North Africa– many of which were likely used for financial gain.” Scamsters have capitalised on the pan- demic with creative attack campaigns that play to the present mood. With peo- ple’s health, jobs and finances all under threat, cyber monitors report an in- crease in e-mails enticing users to click on unsafe links, purportedly offering in- formation on rising local case numbers, advice on safety measures, tips for claim- ing stimulus cheques, as well as alerts on coronavirus-linked investment opportu- nities or relief donations. Focused attacks CK TO “Ransomware, privileged access RS abuse, data loss and poorly configured TE services that create vulnerabilities are UT significant risks,” says Ammar Enaya, Re- SH gional Director – Middle East at Vectra, an artificial intelligence-based threat de- tection platform that counts UAE banks THE COVID EFFECT among its clients. “Cybercriminals partic- ularly target banking customers and sup- ply chain partners so those connections tion, there is often a general escalation and credentials must be controlled and BY KEITH J FERNANDEZ in cybercriminals’ activity,” says Anoop monitored too. Banks are also a target SPECIAL TO GN FOCUS Das, cybersecurity expert at the cloud for politically motivated attacks seeking services provider Mimecast Middle East. to disrupt and destabilise a region’s infra- n August, Hozefa Arsiwala was having “There has been a spike in cybercrime structure. For customers using banking a late lunch with his wife and daughter across the board and crime for financial digital services, their credentials will be during a staycation when an SMS came gain has been among the most signifi- a prized target for attackers. Banks need Iin. It confirmed that he had just spent cant. Criminals know that many people ANOOP DAS, to ensure robust access and identity Dh50 to buy a T-shirt online. Except that are struggling financially and are looking Cybersecurity technical controls and also focus on cus- the Sharjah resident hadn’t. He immedi- for ways to prey on their desperation.” expert, Mimecast tomer security awareness education.” ately rang his bank, one of the largest in He offers a chilling example from a re- Middle East Organisations — including banks — have the UAE, and learnt the purchase had cent Mimecast investigation. The log- also been unprepared to have their entire gone through. A quick Google in page of a major UAE bank workforce operating remotely. The sud- search told him the store had been cloned, with the den shift to working from home opened was located in the US. fake website live since up security gaps for hackers. This week, The same card was July. Customers had backup software solutions company Ac- also being charged Cybercriminals potentially been ronis revealed the results of a global an additional Am- particularly target affected for sev- survey of 3,400 companies: 39 per cent azon Prime pay- eral months. “If of companies experienced a videoconfer- ment for the banking customers and a banking cus- AMMAR ENAYA encing attack in the past three months. preceding three supply chain partners tomer were to Regional Director Malware attacks such as ransomware months, some- so those connections click on a phish- Middle East, Vectra also have increased during the pandemic, thing Arsiwala ing link, they with 31 per cent of companies reporting was pursuing and credentials must be would be sent daily cyberattacks and 50 per cent being with the technol- controlled and to the malicious targeted at least once a week. ogy services pro- fraudulent web- “The attack surface is being expanded vider. “The bank monitored.” site,” he says. by remote work and unsecured personal offered to open a AMMAR ENAYA, “This log-in page devices used by employees, increasing complaint to pursue REGIONAL DIRECTOR is then used to har- the risk to the business,” says Adam Palm- the matter and uncov- MIDDLE EAST AT vest the credentials er, Chief Cybersecurity Strategist at Tena- er more details about VECTRA of the customer, as they ble, a global IT company that tracks cyber both incidents, but given the are prompted to fill in their ADAM PALMER, exposure. He tells GN Focus that tradition- time and potential costs involved, information, including their Chief Cybersecurity al risk management is failing, and organ- it wasn’t worth the trouble,” he says. password. Criminals can then use this Strategist, Tenable isations should integrate their security Arsiwala doesn’t know if he’d been information to access the user’s bank ac- into one central identity and access man- phished, that is, tricked into revealing count.” agement solution, while using privileged sensitive personal data, or if his data access management to restrict access to had been stolen in a cyberleak, but he Rise in attacks critical systems and data, to limit the abil- was certainly a victim of credit-card The company’s Threat Intelligence ity for attackers to reach critical systems. fraud, one of many different kinds of Centre picked up 115,000 Covid-19-relat- “It’s important to make sure remote work- online bank hoaxes being reported in ed registered spoof domains in the first ers’ devices are fully configured with end- the UAE. three months of the pandemic. These point protection and detection. Far too Earlier this year, the Central Bank of offered fake or non-existent goods such many people, including the most tech-sav- the UAE warned of a spike in cybercrime as protective masks or Covid-19 cures, or vy, ignore system updates and patches.” and bank fraud, as fraudsters capital- targeted individuals seeking compensa- ise on the coronavirus pandemic to find tion for holidays booked. “The general new ways to target consumers. The bank fear and uncertainty of this year has of- rolled out its first national fraud aware- fered criminals the perfect opportunity To access the first official ness campaign in April, which aims to to exploit vulnerable people,” Das says. page in the UAE for bank arm consumers with the skills to protect “Our researchers saw a massive 751 per customers to report bank fraud, themselves against scams. cent increase in unsafe clicks during the please visit: “During times of heightened disrup- first three months of the year in the Mid- www.uaebf.ae/en/fight-fraud 4 Tuesday, October 20, 2020 SIM swap NATIONAL CAMPAIGN fraud drops BOLSTERS UAE’S Jamal Saleh, Director READINESS TO FIGHT General of UBF, highlights the success the nation-wide initiative CYBERCRIME #TogetherAgainstFraud will run until the end of the year and IM swap fraud targeting banking customers in the UAE has dra- cover different types of fraud, including Covid-19 related scams matically declined after launch- Sing a major nationwide awareness campaign, a senior banking industry offi- ith hundreds of millions of peo- cial told Emirates News Agency (WAM). ple mandated to stay at home “SIM swap fraud, the worst among on- globally to limit the spread of line banking frauds, used to be reported Wthe coronavirus, Covid-19 related in hundreds in the past. But only one case fraud is expected to climb as fraudsters ex- was reported in recent months since we ploit people’s fear and anxiety during these started the campaign in April with the difficult times. Common scams include tar- Central Bank of the UAE, Abu Dhabi Po- geting victims via email, SMS, phone and lice and Dubai Police,” said Jamal Saleh, social media, with fraudsters posing as gen- Director General of UAE Banks Federa- uine organisations, including government tion (UBF). entities, banks, and healthcare providers, “And this is despite the number of on- to trick victims into disclosing personal or line banking fraud attempts having dou- financial information. bled since the start of coronavirus out- To counter this, UAE Banks Federation break, as people started spending more (UBF), the Central Bank of the UAE, Abu time at home and transacting online,” Dhabi Police, and Dubai Police launched the he added. UAE’s first national fraud awareness cam- paign in April, which will run until the end Identity theft of the year. Under the theme #Together- SIM swap fraud is a type of identity AgainstFraud, the joint initiative aims to ed- theft, where a fraudster manages to get ucate and protect consumers from financial a replacement SIM card of a victim’s reg- cybercrime and fraud, particularly in light istered mobile number, using fake iden- of the increased use of digital banking ser- tity documents to access online banking vices during the Covid-19 pandemic. services of the victim to steal money. “The banking sector’s digital transfor- “The awareness campaign and the mation and widespread implementation strict preventive measures taken by the of online solutions has increased both the Telecommunications Regulatory Author- complexity and magnitude of financial ity, Etisalat, and du have almost stopped fraud and cybercrime across the globe,” this type of fraud. For example, unlike in says AbdulAziz Al Ghurair, Chairman of UAE the past, the customer has now to go in Banks Federation. person with his/her original Emirates ID “This is a serious threat to society that and fingerprint to request a replacement must be addressed, particularly under ABDULAZIZ AL GHURAIR, CHAIRMAN OF SIM card,” Saleh explained. these challenging circumstances where UAE BANKS FEDERATION fraudsters have become increasingly so- the country, this initiative underpins our Campaign success phisticated taking advantage of the fear will and readiness to tackle fraud and cy- The #TogetherAgainstFraud aware- and uncertainty created by the outbreak of bercrime, and strengthen our collaborative ness campaign was well received by the pandemic.