McAfee Q3 2013 QTR Press Release

MCAFEE LABS SEES NEW THREATS SUBVERTING DIGITAL SIGNATURE VALIDATION

Third Quarter Threats Report Identifies Android Malware That Bypasses App Validation as Signed PC Malware Continues to Surge; Bitcoin Popular in Illicit Trade and Cybercrime

SANTA CLARA, Calif. – Nov. 20, 2013 – McAfee Labs today released the McAfee Labs Threats Report:Third Quarter 2013, which found new efforts to circumvent digital signature app validation on Android-based devices. The McAfee Labs team identified a new family of mobile malware that allows an attacker to bypass the digital signature validation of apps on Android devices, which contributed to a 30 percent increase in Android-based malware. At the same time, traditional malware signed with digital signatures grew by 50 percent to more than 1.5 million samples. Less surprising but no less daunting was a 125 percent increase in spam.

“The efforts to bypass code validation on mobile devices, and commandeer it altogether on PCs, both represent attempts to circumvent trust mechanisms upon which our digital ecosystems rely,” said Vincent Weafer, senior vice president of McAfee Labs. “The industry must work harder to ensure the integrity of this digital trust infrastructure given these technologies are becoming even more pervasive in every aspect of our daily lives.”

Over the past three months were reported 200,000 infections banking Trojans

The malware aimed at stealing banking data , are extremely popular with online fraudsters. In a new report issued by Trend Micro, states that from July to September 2013 there were 200,000 cases of systems of financial institutions - so large spread of banking Trojans have not seen since 2002.

The attacks are not focused on specific sectors, and evenly distributed around the world. This indicates that cyber criminals have diversified their victims.

Hardest-hit were the United States of America - 23 % of all attacks were recorded there. In second place Brazil with 16% of attacks, and closes the top three leaders of Japan, with 12% of security incidents.

In the third quarter increased the number of threats to mobile platforms

252 out of 259 new families of malicious software created for the platform Android, and only 7 - for Symbian.

The company F-Secure Labs, dedicated to security issues , published a report for the third quarter of 2013 on threats to mobile platforms. According to a document from July to September, it was discovered 259 new families of malicious software and versions of existing viruses. 252 of them are created for the Android platform, and only 7 - for Symbian. Note that in the second quarter, the number of new families of malware has reached 205.

Most of the detected threats ( 88%) - Trojan Horses, 2.7% - Trojans, spyware, trojans 1.6% of downloaders. 2.3 % was contributed by malicious applications, 1.9 % - the share of instruments to monitor, at 0.4 % - on the exploits, tools for hacking, trojan droppers and spyware.

In addition, in July of this year, he discovered a new set of tools Androrat APK, simplifying the process of introducing malicious code into legitimate Android - application. According to the report , increasing not only the number of malware for mobile platforms - malware is constantly being improved and become more complicated. For example, every fifth threat - it's a bot.