Social media, AI and human trust led to a
record-breaking year of advanced scams and personal data
loss
TEMPE,
Ariz. and PRAGUE,
Feb. 13,
2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Gen™ (NASDAQ: GEN), a global
leader in consumer Cyber Safety with a family of brands including
Norton, Avast, LifeLock, Avira, AVG, ReputationDefender and
CCleaner, today released its Q4/2024 Gen Threat Report. The report
reveals a surge in online threats to close out a record-breaking
2024, with 2.55 billion cyberthreats blocked in October to December
– equaling 321 threats every second. The risk ratio of encountering
threats reached 27.7% in Q4, with social engineering attacks
comprising 86% of all blocked threats, demonstrating the advanced
psychological tactics used by cybercriminals today.
"We're continuing to see scam-related threats becoming far more
dangerous as they hide, sometimes in plain sight, throughout every
aspect of our digital life," said Siggi Stefnisson, Cyber Safety
CTO at Gen. "This quarter we saw them prey on people's emotions,
such as the need to shop on budget during the holidays, the desire
to find love during the end of the year, the hope for change during
government elections and more. And, unfortunately, this is
resulting in people continuing to lose money and control over their
personal information. In 2025 we only expect these risks to
increase as the rise of AI-powered systems and devices will mark
the next frontier for cybercrime."
The Dark Side of Social Media
Scam-related attacks continue to demonstrate global reach and
adaptability. Phishing attacks rose by 14% in Q4/2024, with many
exploiting platforms for creating websites like Wix and spoofing
brands such as Apple iCloud with fake invoice scams. Meanwhile,
malvertising remained a leading method of driving scams and malware
delivery, comprising 41% of all blocked attacks for the
quarter.
Social media platforms remained one of the prime grounds
for scams and cybercrime at the end of 2024. Facebook stands out,
accounting for a staggering 56% of total identified threats.
YouTube trails behind at 24%, followed by X with 10% and Reddit and
Instagram both accounting for 3% of all social media threats. When
it comes to messaging platforms, despite WhatsApp's larger user
base, Telegram experiences six times more threats due to scammers
utilizing the platform's additional privacy features to make their
crimes harder to track by authorities.
The ways that scammers are using social media vary with such
different people and use cases for the platforms. Gen found that
the main ways people were scammed across social media were:
- Deceptive online ads (Malvertising) (27%): These
deceptive ads spread malicious software onto the device being used
or redirected people to malicious websites that can do the
same.
- Fake e-shops (23%): People are lured by fraudulent
online stores, also exposing personal and financial data.
- Phishing (18%): Scams aimed at stealing sensitive
information like credit card numbers or passwords.
Social media is quickly turning into a playground for scammers
to leverage platform algorithms, AI, and personalized interactions
to scale their attacks faster and more effectively than ever
before. Read the full analysis on social media threats in our
latest blog.
Year-End Spike in Financial Scams
October through December marked the year's most active quarter
for financial scams, with mobile phones serving as a primary attack
vector. Leading this trend were:
- The largest deepfake crypto scam: The
infamous CryptoCore group, known for hijacking YouTube accounts to
promote their crypto scam campaigns, capitalized on
the US Presidential Election. They used deepfake videos featuring
figures like Elon Musk to steal over
$7 million from its victims. This
marked the largest attack of its kind.
- Mobile banking trojans: New mobile bankers, phone
applications designed to steal banking information, launched in
Q4/2024. This included DroidBot which used remote access
capabilities to go after banking details and crypto
wallets. Another was ToxicPanda that disguised itself as Visa,
dating apps and Chrome. The well-known BankBot banker saw
infections rise by 236% compared to Q3/2024.
- Spyware and SpyLoans: Malicious apps promising quick
money with high interest rates and predatory repayment schedules
also surged this quarter. Once installed, these apps request access
to SMS messages, photos and other sensitive information, allowing
them to spy on the victim. After a few weeks, the victim faces
extortion and threats of their private data being published unless
they pay the cybercriminals. A new spyware strain disguised as a
body mass index (BMI) calculator spread via the Amazon App Store, a
novel distribution tactic reflecting the rising number of official
Android app stores.
Personal Data – The New Gold
Personal data loss continued to pose a high risk of identity
theft and loss of privacy for consumers. Scam-Yourself Attacks,
such as ClickFix and FakeCaptcha, grew rapidly. In Q4, Gen blocked
attacks targeting 4.2 million individuals, a 130% increase from the
previous quarter. These campaigns use psychological manipulation to
deceive people into copying and executing malicious code,
potentially leading to financial fraud, account
takeovers or malware infections.
To help people stay protected from this threat and keep their
data safe, Gen introduced a Clipboard Protection feature across the
Norton, Avast and AVG brands that blocks clipboard-based threats
before they can execute.
For the third consecutive quarter, ransomware continued its
alarming upward trend, with a notable 50% increase in Q4. This
highlights an escalating threat for both organizations and
individuals globally.
To read the full Q4/2024 Gen Threat Report, visit:
https://www.gendigital.com/blog/insights/reports/threat-report-q4-2024
About Gen
Gen™ (NASDAQ: GEN) is a global company dedicated to powering
Digital Freedom through its trusted Cyber Safety brands, Norton,
Avast, LifeLock, Avira, AVG, ReputationDefender and CCleaner. The
Gen family of consumer brands is rooted in providing safety for the
first digital generations. Now, Gen empowers people to live their
digital lives safely, privately, and confidently today and for
generations to come. Gen brings award-winning products and services
in cybersecurity, online privacy and identity protection to nearly
500 million users in more than 150 countries. Learn more at
GenDigital.com.
Media Contacts:
Brittany Posey-Thomas
Gen
Press@GenDigital.com
Courtney Rowles
Edelman for Gen
Courtney.Rowles@edelman.com
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SOURCE Gen Digital Inc.
