By Abdi Ali
Published October 16, 2021
A cybersecurity company says it blocked more than 30 000 mobile malware attacks in Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa in the first six months of 2021.
Saying mobile threats are becoming prevalent across black Africa, the cybersecurity company known as Kaspersky says the top three most common malware in Kenya and Nigeria are Trojans, Trojan-Downloaders; and Trojan-Droppers. In South Africa, Kaspersky says, Trojans, Trojan-Proxy and Trojan-Downloaders are prevalent.
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Kaspersky defines a Trojan as a type of malware that is often disguised as legitimate software which attackers can use to try and gain access to user systems. As the name suggests, Trojan-Downloaders download and install new versions of malicious programmes, including Trojans and Adware on victim computers. Meanwhile, Trojan-Droppers usually save a range of files containing malicious programmes to the victim’s drive. Once installed, Kaspersky says, a Trojan-Proxy allows an attacker to use the infected device as a proxy to connect to the Internet.
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“Mobile malware remains a significant threat for corporate and personal users across Africa. These attacks are usually very diverse with hackers leveraging a range of methodologies and technologies to compromise victim’s devices. Trojan-Downloaders and Trojan-Droppers are especially dangerous given their potential to contain significantly damaging payloads,” says Bethwel Opil, Enterprise Sales Manager at Kaspersky in Africa.
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Kaspersky advises mobile users to enhance their security by:
- Using an up-to-date internet security solution
- Creating strong passwords. By putting a strong password on their smartphone, the device can become unusable if it is lost or stolen and the password attempt fails a certain number of times
- Not trusting SMS. Mobile malware uses text messages, so users should never respond to requests for credit card details or other private information
- Checking your browser for the lock symbol. The lock icon in the address bar indicates that the site is secure when entering personal data
- Installing apps from reputable sources. Popular shopping sites such as Amazon or eBay have their own mobile applications. You must check to see they are the official apps from the company before you initiate a download. This can be done by checking the developer information and user ratings on the download page.