An analysis based on the latest ESET Threat Reports reveals critical changes in the infostealer ecosystem: Although global detections decreased by 18% in the second half of 2025, attacks are now more sophisticated.

The use of artificial intelligence and new distribution models are redefining risk for businesses and citizens throughout Latin America. “Infostealers remain a favorite tool of cybercriminals because they allow them to steal large volumes of credentials and sensitive information silently. Although we saw a decrease in the number of detections last year, we also observed an evolution in their sophistication, with better-targeted campaigns and the use of new technologies to optimize attacks,” says David González, Cybersecurity Specialist at ESET Latin America.

Researchers at this company, a global leader in cybersecurity, analyzed the evolution of malware, specifically this type designed to steal sensitive information such as passwords, banking data, and browser history. With the discontinuation of Agent Tesla, other families like Formbook and SnakeStealer have taken the lead in information theft.

This information is of relevant interest to both experts and advanced users, as well as those with basic knowledge who are undergoing preventative education and training.

Local radar alert: the threats setting the trend in our region

According to ESET telemetry, these are the malware families with the greatest impact that users in Latin America should closely monitor:

– Formbook (Win/Formbook). This was the most identified family globally at the end of 2025, accounting for 17.3% of total detections, primarily distributed through phishing campaigns.

– Lumma Stealer (Win/Spy.LummaStealer). Responsible for massive attacks, especially targeting users in Mexico, focused on stealing credentials and data stored in browsers.

– Agent Tesla (MSIL/Spy.AgentTesla). Despite a slowdown in its development, it continues to be widely distributed through malware downloaders such as CloudEyE (GuLoader).

– NGate / PhantomCard (Android/Spy.NGate). A mobile spyware threat primarily targeting the Brazilian banking ecosystem, with the ability to steal contacts and card data.

– Spy.Banker_(JS/Spy.Banker). JavaScript-based Trojans that mainly affect users of financial services and have a global detection rate of approximately 9.5%.

How are these threats distributed to carry out attacks?

The main infection vectors include: Phishing and targeted spam, with malicious attachments that simulate invoices or orders. ClickFix, a social engineering technique that displays fake system errors or prompts users to activate software to make it fully functional or unlock new features in the paid version; in both cases, the goal is to convince the user to execute malicious commands. Malware downloaders, such as CloudEyE (GuLoader), which experienced strong growth during the second half of 2025. Fraudulent websites that impersonate official stores like Google Play to distribute applications.

Digital Survival Guide: What You Need to Know to Protect Your Information Today

Latin America has become a key target for cybercriminals. Don’t ignore these recommendations; they are essential tools to avoid becoming the next victim.

• Strengthen your credentials: It is vital to improve the protection of your passwords and use early threat detection methods.
• Beware of “ClickFix”: Don’t fall for fake system errors that prompt you to run malicious commands to “activate” software.
• Mobile security: Strengthen security in mobile environments and be extremely cautious with payment technologies like NFC, which are increasingly used in financial attacks.
• Verify your downloads: Avoid websites that impersonate official stores like Google Play, as they are common vectors for distributing fraudulent applications.

ESET invites you to learn more about cybersecurity by visiting: https://www.welivesecurity.com/es/.

For other useful preventative information, also available in Venezuela:  https://www.eset.com/ve/, and on their social media channels @eset_ve. Also on Instagram  (@esetla) and Facebook (ESET).

With information and reference image provided by ESET and Comstat Rowland

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La entrada What’s happening with infostealers and credential theft? Is your digital identity at risk? apareció primero en Bitfinance.

Credential theft is a threat that has been plaguing the world for over a decade. In Latin America, it is growing steadily in tandem with digitalization and the rise in online fraud. Last year alone, more than 2.6 million credentials were compromised in the region, according to a 2025 SOCRadar report.

This material is of educational interest to both advanced and frequent users, as well as basic and occasional users, and we should pay attention to it. It may be useful to archive and preserve it. Keep in mind that all countries and internet users have some degree of vulnerability and are therefore at risk. No one is immune to this risk; we must act preventively to reduce or mitigate it.

ESET, a leading company in proactive threat detection, warns that access to an email account allows attackers to access banking services, corporate platforms, financial information, and even medical records.

The ways cybercriminals obtain user passwords vary in difficulty and technical expertise. ESET categorizes them into three methodologies: those that exploit social engineering techniques, those that use malware, and those that result from an attack on the organization that should be protecting them.

What methodologies do hackers use?

1.Social Engineering Techniques:

This method falsely uses the names of public entities or well-known companies to lower suspicion and increase the effectiveness of attacks. The most common method is sending emails or messaging applications in which the attacker impersonates a legitimate entity to deceive the victim and persuade them to voluntarily hand over their login credentials.

These messages share a common characteristic: they appeal to urgency and simulate a notification of a problem requiring immediate action: account issues, a rejected payment, problems with a reservation, among countless other excuses. They often contain a malicious link to sites that mimic legitimate ones to steal victims’ sensitive data, such as passwords and usernames.

Another form phishing takes is through fake websites that rank highly in search engine results like Google with sponsored ads, because the attacker pays for visibility to impersonate real pages. In these scenarios, even cautious people can be tricked into clicking on a seemingly legitimate result that replicates the visual identity of banks, email platforms, cloud services, or reputable companies.

2.Distribution of specific malware:

Another common way to steal passwords is through the use of malware, which activates once the user’s device has been compromised. In these cases, ESET explains, there is no specific deception or alert message; instead, the theft occurs in the background, often without the victim noticing.

Infostealers, keyloggers, and spyware all share the common characteristic of continuously collecting sensitive information, including passwords stored in browsers, autofill data, application credentials, and active sessions. The impact of these types of malware is not limited to a single account, as the malicious program continues to collect credentials as long as the user uses the infected device, ESET points out.

Within this same ecosystem, banking Trojans emerge, specifically targeting login credentials for bank accounts and financial platforms. Through fake windows, they capture data the moment the user enters it. This type of threat, not new to the region, exceeded 650,000 unique detections in 2025, 110,000 of which belonged to a single family: Guildma.

3.Attacks on organizations:

Another significant source of credential theft is incidents where an organization’s databases are exposed due to a weakness or failure in its systems. In the most critical scenarios, leaks include complete credentials, either in plain text or with weak security mechanisms, allowing attackers to reuse them immediately. However, even when passwords are not directly exposed, leaked emails or usernames remain valuable to malicious actors. This information is then used as the basis for credential stuffing or brute-force attacks, exploiting the reuse of passwords across different services.

Once a database is compromised, the information can circulate for years in underground forums and be reused in different contexts and against multiple platforms. In this way, a single breach in one organization ends up amplifying the risk for other companies and for users themselves, even long after the original incident has been fixed.

“There are also brute-force threats. These consist of automatically trying multiple username and password combinations until successful access is achieved, without needing to deceive the user or compromise their device beforehand. They typically rely on lists of common passwords or credentials leaked in previous incidents, taking advantage of password reuse and the lack of additional authentication controls. When exposed services lack mechanisms to limit login attempts or adequate monitoring, this type of attack remains effective, especially against remote access, web applications, and corporate services published on the internet,” comments Martina López, Cybersecurity Researcher at ESET Latin America.

It is advisable to combine and add best practices with preventative measures

Credential theft by cybercriminals can occur through various vectors. The ESET research team maintains that prevention does not depend on taking a single measure, but rather on a combination of practices:

• Use unique and strong passwords for each service, since credential stuffing is common among cyberattackers using credentials that are sold commercially.
• Enable multifactor authentication whenever possible, as this mechanism complements and strengthens the passwords you use.
• Be wary of unexpected messages and avoid downloading files or clicking on suspicious links, as malware and phishing remain the most common ways credentials are stolen.
• Store passwords in password managers and avoid saving them in plain text or on shared devices.
• Keep systems and applications updated to patch any vulnerabilities.
• Review unusual access and activity on your accounts, either by keeping login alerts enabled or by checking the privacy or access settings of your applications.

In the event that a password has already been stolen, ESET emphasizes that reaction time makes the difference between an isolated incident and a major problem. Therefore, they recommend:

• Change the affected passwords and any others where the same credentials were used.
• Close active sessions on the affected account and revoke recent access in services and applications where possible.
• Check for unauthorized changes to accounts and monitor for future changes to messages, settings, payments, and other data.
• Use a security tool on potentially affected devices to remove any malicious code.

“While password theft is not a new problem, it continues to grow and adapt to new technologies, along with our increasingly complex digital lives. In this context, digital literacy and best practices become essential to protect our identity, information, and devices at both the individual and corporate levels. Staying informed is vital to staying ahead of the latest cybersecurity trends,” concludes López from ESET.

ESET invites you to learn more about cybersecurity by visiting: https://www.welivesecurity.com/es/.

For other useful preventative information, also available in Venezuela at:  https://www.eset.com/ve/, and on their social media channels @eset_ve. Also on Instagram (@esetla) and Facebook (ESET).

Information and images provided by ESET and Comstat Rowland

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La entrada Recommendations to reduce credential theft: This digital risk is very common in Latin America apareció primero en Bitfinance.

Cado Security Labs has pointed out that cybercriminals are using AI to create fake websites and apps through which they recruit victims from the cryptocurrency sector.

Through these fake meeting apps, hackers spread malware to steal personal data, as well as access credentials to “websites, apps and cryptocurrency wallets.”

Scammers create malicious pages and fake social media accounts that are difficult to detect “before contacting potential victims to encourage them to download a meeting app,” according to Tara Gould, Cado’s threat research leader.

An example is the “Meeten” app, although it operates under the name “Meetio” and “regularly changes its name. In the past, it has used names such as Clusee.com, Cuesee, Meeten.gg, Meeten.us, and Meetone.gg.”

Once downloaded, the information stealer called Realst contained in the app “searches for sensitive items such as Telegram login credentials, bank card details, and cryptocurrency wallet information to send to the attackers.”

In addition, it searches for browser cookies and auto-filled credentials from applications such as Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge. In this way, the credentials of the Ledger, Trezor, and Binance wallets are stolen.

“The use of AI allows threat actors to quickly create realistic content for websites, which adds legitimacy to their scams and makes it harder to detect suspicious websites,” the researchers said, highlighting that this attack has been operating for about four months, with versions for macOS and Windows.

M.Pino

Source: cointelegraph

(Reference image source: Christin Hume on Unsplash)

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La entrada Cryptocurrency theft lurks behind fake meeting apps apareció primero en Bitfinance.