The number of cyber attacks on the O2 network has almost quadrupled this year to 1.3 billion threats. On average, 160 attacks were directed at one user in November alone. Up to 300 numbers are spoofed and 10,000 fraudulent SMS messages are sent out on the O2 network every day. This is according to data from O2 Security.
“O2’s latest statistics show that the number and scale of fraudulent activity on the internet and mobile network continues to grow extremely rapidly. Almost 500 million attacks were made in the last two months of October and November this year alone, which is more than the whole of last year combined,” said Radek Šichtanc, security director at O2.
Malware clearly led the attacks this year. It is the most common and effective form of cyber attack across the internet. In second place were the dreaded phishing attacks, where a hacker sends out messages and entices people in various forms to click on a link that leads to an insecure site in order to obtain sensitive data
Currently, the most common type of fraudulent message is a phishing SMS from a shipping company such as a fake DPD, Czech Post or PPL. The fraudster often informs the customer that the parcel has arrived at the warehouse and cannot be delivered due to address errors. The user has to edit the correct data on the sent link. This already takes the user to a fake website and fills in sensitive personal information to the fraudster, such as address, banking access details, CVC code, etc.
“Every day people report dozens of SMS messages to us as fraudulent. We immediately investigate these suspicious SMSes at the security department. Every day, we block several fraudulent domains based on these tips,” said Šichtanc.
Fraudulent SMS messages can be sent to 720 002 002 and since 13 December also to the number 7726, which other operators also have. “The gift shopping season is in full swing. I advise people to be very careful when shopping online through e-shops and classifieds, not to click on suspicious links and not to fill in any sensitive information on untrustworthy sites. Also beware of phone calls with strangely advantageous offers, investments and the like,” Šichtanc added.
All O2 contact numbers now have so-called anti-spoofing protection. This means that they cannot be spoofed. If a customer receives a call from, for example, the most frequently used number 800 02 02 02, it is always an O2 operator and not a fraudster.
Source: O2 and CTK
