Although malicious code contained within the fraudulent Greenlife PDF was spotted and eliminated, and no longer contains a threat, the initial security risks entailed by this PDF were vast and Symantec has warned that antivirus packages are relatively unable to detect such a sophisticated threat.

PDFs form the most commonly used method of sending out malicious code to companies (comprising 41 percent of fraudulent attacks around the World Cup), but these codes have also been detected in Excel documents (18 percent) and Word documents (14 percent). Corrupted Excel documents pose huge threats and high numbers of Excel spreadsheets containing timetables for the World Cup, along with malicious content, have been sent out to companies.

It is relatively uncommon to see malicious code within Excel documents and this therefore makes it more difficult to spot.

Blackhat SEO has also increased in the run-up to the World Cup and incidents of fake lottery wins have risen considerably. Visa's "Go Fans" campaign, which offered fans the opportunity to win a trip to South Africa to see the World Cup, also became the victim of fraud when cyber criminals used phishing to obtain the personal and financial details of some of the competition's entrants.

Security risks to banks

The World Cup has also led to sharp increases in bank fraud and a recent survey conducted by Travelex revealed that one in 12 cases of fraud reported across the globe has taken place in South Africa.

Vendor Actimize has said that banks are, however, struggling to to identify these suspect transactions because of the statistical "noise" generated during such a huge event.

Jackie Barwell, the manager of financial crime products, at Actimize said: "Because of the increased volume of amateurish 'noise' created by opportunists, many of the phishing emails created by organised criminals look incredibly professional. These more professional schemes will direct unsuspecting victims to convincing Web pages asking for credit card details or online banking log-ins."

Actimize has advised banks to amend their transactional risk scoring and anti-fraud processes so as to minimise their security risks and make it easier to identify genuine suspicious activity across all customer channels - ATM, debit and credit card transactions as well as online transactions.

Whilst the World Cup is generating huge profits for companies and organisations around the world, it has also led to a surge in fraudulent and other types of criminal behaviour that ultimately leave businesses open to increased security risks. As the world cheers on the World Cup opening match, it is imperative that companies maintain awareness of the associated threats and take steps to ensure these do not ultimately do any long-lasting damage.

上一页  [1] [2]