Surge in cyber-attacks targeting remote collaboration tools in UAE in 2020: report

Kaspersky researchers discovered a 177 per cent rise in the number of brute force attacks on remote desktop protocols (RDP) in the UAE. This surge reflect how attackers are putting their efforts into targeting users that work from home.

There has been a worldwide, involuntary shift to relying on digital platforms and tools to work and carry out other aspects of our lives over the past year. The new work from home scenarios have resulted in organisations adjusting their corporate networks and led to the emergence of new threats, as well as the strengthening of existing ones.

Aside from attacks on RDP, cybercriminals were quick to figure out that many workers replaced offline communication with online tools and so decided to abuse this demand too.

Kaspersky detected 1.66 million unique malicious files that were spread under the guise of popular messenger and online conference applications, typically used for work. Once installed, these files would primarily load Adware – programs that flooded victims’ devices with unwanted advertising and gathered their personal data for third-party use.

Read: New Mimecast report reveals steady increase in malicious files in GCC

Another group of files disguised as corporate apps were Downloaders – applications that may not be malicious, but are able to download other apps, from Trojans to remote access tools.

“The move online was not as flawless as one would imagine, especially given that we already lived in what we thought was a digitized world,” said Dmitry Galov, security researcher at Kaspersky.

“As the focus switched to remote work, so did the cybercriminals, who directed their efforts to capitalise on a rise in adoption. I am happy to state that the adoption process was fast and this meant the world could go on. Economies did not freeze and we still get to have our coffee, albeit, via delivery services. Yet now we know that there is still a lot to learn about the responsible use of technology, with data sharing at the heart of it.”