Ransomware and phishing attacks continue to climb in Singapore, hitting small and midsize businesses (SMBs) and social media platforms. Cybercriminals also are expected to turn their attention to Internet of Things (IoT) devices and crypto-based transactions, leveraging the lack of security safeguards on these platforms. Some 55,000 local-hosted phishing URLs were identified last year, up 17% from 2020, with social media companies accounting for more than half of spoofed targets. This might have been due to threat actors looking to exploit public interest in WhatsApp’s announcement to update its privacy policy, said Singapore’s Cyber Security Agency (CSA) on Monday, when it released its Singapore Cyber Landscape 2021 report. Social networking sites were the most commonly spoofed sector, followed by financial services and the online and cloud services sector. WhatsApp, Facebook, Lloyds, Chase Bank, and Microsoft were the most commonly spoofed brands, according to CSA. The government agency noted that scammers also spoofed government websites in late-2021, amidst heightened interest in the Omicron subvariant outbreak here. The number of ransomware cases reported to CSA totalled 137 last year, up 54% from 2020, with SMBs from sectors such as manufacturing and IT mostly falling victims to such attacks. These industries typically operated 24 by 7, leaving little time for organisations to patch their systems and potentially enabling ransomware groups to exploit vulnerabilities, CSA said. It noted that ransomware groups targeting SMBs in Singapore tapped the ransomware-as-a-service model, which made it easier for amateur hackers to use existing infrastructure to push out ransomware payloads. CSA also identified 3,300 malicious command and control (C&C) servers hosted in Singapore last year, more than triple the number in 2020 and the largest figure registered since 2017. The significant climb was attributed to the number of servers distributing Cobalt Strike malware, accounting for almost 30% of all C&C servers. Some 4,800 botnet drones with Singapore IP addresses were identified last year, a 27% dip from the daily average of 6,600 in 2020. There were no dominant malware variants amongst compromised devices, which CSA said could be due to threat actors moving away from older strains to explore new infection methods, as organisations cleaned up infected systems. Cybercrimes in Singapore continued on their upward climb, with 22,219 such cases recorded last year, up 38% from 2020. Online scams accounted for 81% of cybercrime cases, comprising cheating incidents that involved e-commerce or during which victims were approached through the internet.In its report, CSA also outlined key developments that should be closely monitored, warning that critical IoT devices, for instance, could be targeted in ransomware attacks. “Cybercriminals are recognising that they can inflict significant damage to organisations by infecting critical IoT devices, such as internet-connected uninterruptible power supply (UPS) units, leading to significant downtime costs,” it said. “IoT devices often lack critical cybersecurity protection [and] employees have been known to connect their personal IoT devices to the organisation’s networks without the knowledge of security teams.””Should organisations in critical, time-sensitive industries such as healthcare, be infected with ransomware, there could be serious, life-threatening consequences.”The Singapore government agency further cautioned that crypto-based scams were increasing, fuelled largely by the use of decentralised finance (DeFi) and peer-to-peer financial platforms, which bypassed the need for intermediaries. The borderless accessibility of DeFi’s open platforms as well as anonymity features also made it challenging to track illicit activities and enforce Singapore’s regulations across borders, CSA said. This further enabled cybercriminals to launch crypto-based scams. It also noted that decreased global reliance on Western technology–due to increasing geopolitical tensions–would result in differing cyber norms, ecosystems, and standards in the near future. In addition, organisations could suffer “collateral damage” from geopolitical conflicts, as cybercriminal and hacktivist groups take sides and engage in more malicious cyber activities for politically-motivated purposes. This increased the risk of reprisals and, in a hyper-connected global cyberspace, could impact organisations not linked to nations involved in the geopolitical conflicts, CSA said. RELATED COVERAGE More

Cryptocurrency is like a slimy green snake, hissing in a zoo.
You’re fascinated by it, but you’re not sure you want to touch it.

That was, at least, my impression until I was confronted by a new survey that offered some mind-stroking conclusions.
Also: Cryptocurrency 101: What every business needs to know 
1,004 representative Americans were asked several searching questions about crypto. I found myself searching for a large wine glass after I’d read their answers.
You see, 45.8% of these Americans claim they already owned cryptocurrencies.
Can this possibly be? Can crypto now be as usual, normal, and popular as The Voice? Why, 46.8% of Americans voted for Donald Trump. Can crypto be almost as popular as the great populist?

This all seemed very odd to me, as other surveys estimate cryptocurrency ownership last year at between 6% and 9% of the US population. And that seems to reflect a certain sort of, well, reality.
Still I plowed forward with this study, regardless of the consequences.
What was in the souls of these particularly forward-thinking beings? Well, 95% of these claimed crypto owners said they were quite happy with it being a genuine form of currency. 31.7% said it’s a legitimate alternative to cash. A more wary 40% still favored the Benjamins. It’s not clear whether any of them still believe in American Express, or even ever did.
But here’s another result that threatened my mental equilibrium: 30.1% of these respondents said they thought Bitcoin was a safer place than a bank. Another 28.3% said it probably was, but they’d need to find out more about cryptocurrency.
Moreover, 74% of those who don’t currently own crypto said they were open to the idea of getting some in the future.
Again against my better judgment, I delved deeper.
The No. 1 answer to the question “Why would you consider using cryptocurrency?” was “It’s a good way to earn money.” Oh, is that why it’s (allegedly) so popular?
Should I be disturbed, though, by the fact that 43% of these Americans, when asked their opinion of cryptocurrency, replied “I have no opinion”?
Should I quake a little for America’s future that 31.2% of the respondents said they were planning to give crypto-related gifts for Christmas? (How do you wrap a Bitcoin?)
Or should I pause at this moment to reveal that this survey was performed on behalf of cryptocurrency hardware wallet creator SatoshiLabs? And should I wonder if it’s relevant that the minimum age of respondents was thirteen?
I’m all for modernizing the world and making things both easier and more secure. That’s been the promise of the web from the beginning and my, has it delivered.
I’d be remiss, however, not to mention my colleague Charlie Osborne’s comprehensive compendium of 2020’s worst cryptocurrency breaches, thefts, and exit scams.
It’s always good to be aware of the pitfalls. Even if you merely got your cryptocurrency under a Christmas tree.

more Technically Incorrect More

Elyse Betters Picaro / ZDNETFollow ZDNET: Add us as a preferred source More

Image: Charles Deluvio The current coronavirus (COVID-19) quarantine periods imposed all over the globe have forced a large portion of the world’s population towards online shopping. But despite amid a dramatic rise in the number of people using online stores to buy food and supplies during this outbreak, security researchers don’t expect to see a […] More

Singapore, Japan, and the US are amongst six nations reportedly targeted in a COVID-19 themed phishing campaign that is scheduled to take place June 21. North Korean state hacker group Lazarus are said to be behind the massive attack that will see more than 5 million businesses and individuals receiving phishing email messages from spoofed […] More