The most dangerous messaging apps on Android

2 years ago 322

Messaging apps are becoming immoderate of the astir fashionable smartphone programs successful the world, and that means much attempts to phish their users, Kaspersky finds.

New information from Kaspersky reveals that messaging apps for Android devices are wildly fashionable targets for phishing scammers. Of each the phishing attempts connected Android messaging platforms betwixt December 2020 and May 2021, WhatsApp led the pack with a whopping 89.6% of detected attacks.

SEE: How to negociate passwords: Best practices and information tips (free PDF) (TechRepublic)

According to research cited by Kaspersky, messaging apps are overtaking societal media platforms arsenic the astir fashionable instrumentality for communication, and volition proceed to bash truthful successful the years to come. With that successful mind, it's understandable that cybercriminals are progressively turning to them arsenic a abstraction to question phishing victims, said Kaspersky elder web contented expert Tatyana Shcherbakova. Along with popularity, galore messaging apps besides person features that marque phishing easier for attackers, Shcherbakova said.

WhatsApp, arsenic stated above, is the overwhelming person by measurement of detected malicious links. In 2nd spot was Telegram, with 5.6%, Viber, with 4.7%, and Google Hangouts with little than 1 percent. Users successful Russia, Brazil and India were the astir predominant targets.

The detections of malicious links successful WhatsApp, Telegram, Viber, and Google Hangouts were made connected devices with the mentation of Kaspersky Internet Security for Android that featured a caller Safe Messaging diagnostic that tries to forestall users from opening malicious links. During the play of the survey Kaspersky recorded 91,242 detections.

Kaspersky said that WhatsApp is the astir fashionable app connected the planet, which whitethorn beryllium the crushed for its precocious numbers. Telegram, interestingly enough, has a akin geographic organisation arsenic WhatsApp but acold less detections, Kaspersky said.

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Viber and Hangouts, the study noted, had precise antithetic geographies, with astir attacks connected Viber users coming from Russia, and astir Hangouts detections coming from the U.S. and France.

Regardless of wherever you are oregon what app you're using, the quality to detect phishing attempts is an important accomplishment to develop. Kaspersky recommends that everyone online instrumentality the pursuing steps to debar becoming a phishing victim:

Keep an oculus retired for misspellings oregon irregularities successful links
Scammers volition sometimes usage a unfortunate to nonstop links connected their behalf to marque them look much legitimate. Don't nonstop suspicious links oregon links from radical you can't verify.
Scammers disguise themselves by pretending to beryllium from a morganatic business, and immoderate of them interaction targets by uncovering their accusation from morganatic sources. Sources whitethorn look legitimate, but the links they nonstop volition inactive incorporate misspellings and different reddish flags.
Messages coming from friends oregon different radical you cognize could inactive beryllium malicious. Accounts tin beryllium hijacked, and forwards from malicious sources tin hap connected accident, truthful ever beryllium wary of links and attachments.
Install a information solution connected a mobile device. Even if the instrumentality itself is reasonably protected from takeover, sportfishing links and malicious applications tin bargain accusation stored connected the device.

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