298 Cyberattacks Per Minute in Mexico During 2022: Kaspersky
Home > Tech > Article

298 Cyberattacks Per Minute in Mexico During 2022: Kaspersky

Photo by:   Franck - Unsplash
Share it!
Eliza Galeana By Eliza Galeana | Junior Journalist & Industry Analyst - Tue, 12/27/2022 - 12:22

Kaspersky reported that during 2022, a total of 817 million attempted cyberattacks (CA) were registered in Latin America, which represents 2,366 blocks per minute. Among these, 298 attempts per minute took place in Mexico.

A CA constitutes a violation of the security measures of institutions, companies or private users with the purpose of illegally accessing computer systems and obtaining data. According to the National Institute for Transparency, Access to Information and Protection of Personal Data (INAI), there were around 85 billion CA in Mexico in 1H22 focused on stealing data, impersonating identity or using free payment software. 

A study issued by the Russian cybersecurity and digital privacy company Kaspersky stated that from January to August, 2022, 2,366 malware attacks and 110 fraudulent messages per minute, also known as phishing, were blocked in Latin America. Specialists pointed out that these results suggest that the use of piracy has become one of the main vectors of infection, turning the region into a major global financial threat center.

Fabio Assolini, Director, Kaspersky Research and Analysis Team for Latin America, underscored that while the global trend in CA has decreased, in Latin American it has had the opposite effect. “CAs have increased if we compare the 127,000 blockades registered in January 2021 against the 174,000 of August 2022,” he said. 

Assolini stressed that in Latin America, CA’s tend to focus more on mobile devices rather than computers. In the last 12 months, 6,394 attacks per day were recorded against Android devices in Latin America. Moreover, he said that the biggest threat in the region is phishing. Phishing is a type of malware that consists in fraudulent messages sent by email, SMS and through social networks and messaging apps, such as WhatsApp. According to Kaspersky’s study, the company has managed to block 38 million hits to fraudulent links, accounting for 75 percent of phishing attempts in 2021. 

In the global listing of most attacked countries under the phishing method, Mexico ranks 71st. Meanwhile in Latin America, Brazil is the most vulnerable country, followed by Ecuador. Both countries are on the global list of Top 10 phishing targets, ranking  sixth and eighth, respectively.

Photo by:   Franck - Unsplash

You May Like

Most popular

Newsletter