Defending Yourself Against Cross-Platform Threats

Home PCs and laptops remain an important place for storing sensitive information, including personal emails, logins and passwords, photos, financial data and more. Of course, this information needs to be protected, so anti-malware applications are installed on the overwhelming majority of PCs and laptops. But on mobile devices the situation is not so good: many smartphones and tablets are unprotected, even though a huge amount of confidential information may be stored on them. According to a survey by O+K Research, 35% of tablet users and 30% of smartphone users store various passwords on their devices; about a quarter of survey respondents keep banking details on their mobile devices. This information is of great interest to cybercriminals, resulting in a mobile threat epidemic.

The seriousness of cybercriminals can be seen in the emergence of cross-platform threats. Imagine a situation in which a malicious program simultaneously attacks several of your devices, aiming to steal confidential information. Seems impossible? Alas, such programs do exist. The most striking example of cross-platform malware is Zeus and its mobile version ZeuS-in-the-Mobile (ZitMo) aimed at financial data theft.

Zeus uses a rather simple modus operandi. The Trojan begins by compromising a Windows-based computer and waits for the user to open the browser and access an online banking service. After this, it adds additional fields to the banking web page, where it invites users to input the number and model of their mobile phones – allegedly for certificate renewal. As a result, the Zeus masters get hold of all the information entered on the modified page, including all the information required for online banking. After this, a text message is sent to the number you entered, containing a link to a non-existent certificate which is actually the ZitMo Trojan. After the smartphone is infected, the mobile malware starts intercepting authorization codes and notifications on account withdrawals which are sent by text message from the bank. As a result, unknown to you, the cybercriminal will be able to work remotely with your bank account using your stolen data.

So far cross-platform malware is not as common as ordinary malicious programs targeting a specific platform. Nevertheless, there is no doubt that this will be encountered more and more frequently in the future – as users of online banking services increase in number, cybercriminals are hardly going to let these potential riches pass them by. Now is the time to think about protection against cross-platform threats. The ideal solution is a single package which protects all available devices – a product such as Kaspersky ONE. This comprehensive solution protects PCs and laptops running Windows or Mac OS, smartphones using Android, BlackBerry, Symbian and Windows Mobile, and Android tablets.

For PCs and laptops Kaspersky ONE offers an antivirus solution which integrates traditional technologies with the cloud capabilities of Kaspersky Security Network, a web filter to protect your PC when you work online, parental control capabilities which protect your children against unwanted content, and other tools. This will be familiar to users of Kaspersky Internet Security or Kaspersky Security for Mac. Smartphone and tablet protection also utilizes these antivirus and KSN capabilities, while also including security tools for your personal data should the device be lost or stolen. This is now possible thanks to Kaspersky Mobile Security and its Anti-Theft technology.

Kaspersky ONE can be installed on any combination of device, including home computers, laptops, smartphones or tablet PCs. This approach ensures easy-to-use yet still reliable protection of each device against existing cyber-threats – exactly what the modern user needs.