Trend Micro says cyber criminals preying on social networks

MOBILE phones and social networking sites have become popular targets of cybercriminals, said antivirus software developer Trend Micro Inc.
Myla Pilao, director for core technology at TrendLabs, said malware threats in Android phones surged by 1,410 percent in the first seven months of the year.

The developer said a third of Web users are attacked by cybercriminals using social networking sites to target victims, adding that three fake antivirus providers earned a combined total of $130 million during their campaign.

“While smartphones and social networks are becoming increasingly popular, users should be aware that their heavy usage has made them likely of security threats,” said Pilao.

“A seemingly harmless wall post from a friend, a video shared by an online contact or an instant message from a colleague can potentially lead to an attack,” she added.

Mobile threats include worms and spyware that track users’ Web activity and location, while social attacks can lead to financial loss for home users, bankruptcy for small businesses, and intellectual property theft and major financial losses for large organizations.

The software developer on Wednesday launched Trend Micro Titanium Cloud Edition Maximum Security 2012, a cloud-based security software that aims to protect consumers’ digital lives across their devices.

With a “set-and-forget” user interface, the new software provides up-to-the-minute protection and proactively stops threats in the cloud before they reach the consumer.

A new feature in Trend Micro Titanium Cloud Edition is a tool that visually identifies safe and malicious links on social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter.

It also offers mobile security for smartphones and tablets including tools for Android devices with Mobile Security for Android Personal Edition as well as file and folder synchronization and backup through a SafeSync online service.

“The cloud poses greater attack service. If it gets compromised, there’s a possibility that your computer, laptop, smartphone gets compromised, too,” said Ryan Flores, regional manager of the Future Threats Asia Pacific team in TrendLabs.

New security enhancements include a tool that eliminates programs posing as antivirus software, proactive botnet and portable executable (PE) virus protection, and safeguard against malware packer technology.

It also includes enhancement to parental controls, behavioral monitoring, and rootkit detection and removal.

Because it provides a cloud-based solution, Trend Micro utilizes less than half the disk space and memory of other security products. –Krista Angela M. Montealegre, Manila Times