Global alert: Banking virus is the biggest threat to software; Brazil is the focus of attacks!

The growing trend of virtualization in the world has become increasingly worrying, as various restricted data from people and companies are being transferred to remote or local access software.

This opens the door to the development of viruses that attack these systems in search of valuable information, as has often happened.

Without a doubt, banking data is some of the most important for society, which is why it becomes the biggest target for hacker attacks.

Concern is heightened by recent data revealing the Qbot banking virus as the biggest threat to systems around the world this year, especially to Brazilians.

Qbot virus becomes biggest global threat to banking data

Image: El Mundo/Reproduction

According to a survey conducted and published by Check Point Software, a well-established Israeli company that operates in the cybersecurity area, Qbot is currently the most prevalent malware in the world, with a high rate in Brazil, that is, more than double the world average.

The virus, created in 2008, spreads through various means, especially in spam emails with attached files. It focuses on stealing banking data, but can escalate into more severe attacks, such as password theft and ransomware, when payments are demanded to prevent the disclosure of certain information.

In the malware ranking carried out by the company responsible for the research, in June alone, 14.7% of all attacks on Brazilians came from the Qbot. The global average of attacks, despite being the highest, is 6.6%. It is worth mentioning that Brazil increased its numbers by 5% since the previous month.

Malware ranking and Brazil’s vulnerability

In addition to Qbot, the list of the world’s greatest software risks highlights AgentTesla and XMRig as the most common in Brazil, with 4.47% and 4.22% of cases, respectively. Both have a rate almost double the world average, which is 2.39% and 2.43%, respectively.

Photo: Check Point Software Technologies/Reproduction

This clearly demonstrates Brazil’s vulnerability and possible technological delay in relation to more developed countries. Furthermore, it is a concern for the education, health, transport and research sectors, which are the most affected in the country.

Smartphones are also at risk

It’s not just Qbot that has become an enemy of virtual peace. Although it is the biggest threat to Windows systems, SpinOk, also mentioned in the Check Point survey, has spread among Android users, with more than 421 million downloads in June.

The virus affects around 3.27% of total cases in Brazil, while the global average is just 0.86%. It interacts with systems, hiding in more than 100 apps available on the Google Play Store, and keeps users active while stealing their data.

The MOVEit software is also worrying on the world stage, according to the research. This is because, although there are few cases of invasion in Brazil, the virus has become an invader of large companies such as BCC and Shell.