Latin America makes excellent target for cybercriminals | IDG Connect

Here's another very interesting article from IDG Connect by Jonathan Keane, freelance journalist, living in Ireland, covering business and technology.

Photo: IDG Connect

Cybercrime targets are diversifying. Once it was internet users in Europe and North America that appeared to bear the brunt of a lot of cybercrime. They were, after all, the more advanced users with the latest services like online banking, e-commerce, and social media, all creating a treasure trove waiting to be exploited. But things in Latin America have changed drastically in this time. 

A UN report recently noted that developing countries are becoming increasingly online with broadband and mobile penetration higher than ever but the lacklustre quality of these services was exacerbating the digital divide between these countries and the developed world. At the same time, a 2016 study from the Inter-American Development Bank on the state of cybersecurity in Latin America laid out in no uncertain terms that the region was ill-equipped to deal with cyberattacks. 

What do lacklustre services like those in the Latin American region mean when it comes to cybersecurity?

“For most security software companies, Latin America is an important but not critical market. Success is determined typically by the US first and EMEA second, with a couple notable exceptions,” explains Dimitri Sirota, CEO of data protection firm BigID. “While there are several reasons, one factor is, of course, that the pain is greatest in US, Europe and increasingly places like China: big corporations, large populations, heavy regulation, big tort liability.” 

With an obvious divide in terms of internet and cybersecurity services, it potentially leaves the region and its consumers open to breach. “The world, for good or bad, is getting smaller. That is certainly true in the cyber world as well,” says Sirota, and we’ve seen more and more examples of this.

Taringa, a Latin American social networking site popular in Spanish speaking countries, announced it was breached by hackers in September 2017 with 28 million accounts reportedly compromised.

Security firm Palo Alto Networks has found specific malware campaigns targeting Brazilian internet users. The country is also one of the most infected countries for banking Trojans, according to another security evaluation. 

The WannaCry ransomware outbreak in May of this year wreaked havoc on hospitals, businesses, and organisations around the world. Brazil was heavily hit and its government has since pushed ahead with a new contract with Microsoft to update its systems while Russian cybersecurity firm Kaspersky Lab has also been investing more money into Brazil, which it now sees as a key market.
Read more...

Source: IDG Connect