In a digital environment where threats are relentless, national productive sectors face a critical scenario: an attempted cyber intrusion every minute. Given this reality, analyzed by ESET Venezuela experts during their 7th Technology Breakfast for Journalists, data protection has ceased to be a technical option and has become a priority for economic survival.

Today, efficient risk management and the adoption of global standards are the only barriers capable of preventing a complete business shutdown.

During this high-level meeting, emerging trends that are redefining the protection of digital assets were explored. Special emphasis was placed on how local organizations must adapt their infrastructures in the face of the increase in sophisticated attacks that jeopardize operations and data integrity in an increasingly interconnected and demanding ecosystem.

Michele Flammia, General Manager of ESET Venezuela, welcomed attendees, highlighting the brand’s commitment to digital education and protecting strategic assets against current challenges.

Alarming figures that drive proactive action

Carlos López Rodríguez, the company’s Support and Training Manager, emphasized that cybersecurity must be viewed as an ongoing process: “Prevention and training cost less than stopping an attack once it has begun.” He also emphasized that certifications and work on control frameworks provide a real guarantee to third parties and clients.

For his part, José Luis Rangel, Commercial Manager of ESET, warned about the lack of visibility in the market: “Almost 40 % of companies don’t know if they are currently being compromised or if they were in the past.”

According to experts, a cyberattack occurs worldwide every 39 seconds, making it a statistically more likely threat than a fire. The economic impact of this operational paralysis can be reduced by up to 97% with adequate investment in training and frameworks such as ISO 27001 or NIST.

The human factor and social engineering

Martina López, a cybersecurity researcher at ESET Latin America, highlighted that social engineering remains the primary entry point for criminals. Using techniques like quishing (QR phishing) and dynamic phishing, attackers exploit the sense of urgency and trust of employees. In the country, the most frequently impersonated entities include DocuSign, MetaMask, and the Telegram platform, taking advantage of peak interest in AI tools and the current national situation.

Key recommendations for resilience

To strengthen defenses, specialists suggest three fundamental pillars:

• Tabletop Drills: Practicing crisis scenarios allows for the identification of weaknesses in response protocols before a real disaster occurs.
• Real Certification: Obtaining third-party endorsements that validate international standards provides real trust and security to clients.
• Device Security: Disable notifications on the lock screen to prevent the theft of passwords or credentials and always enable two-factor authentication (2FA).

Cybersecurity requires operational maturity; it is contradictory to fear quantum computing while working with obsolete systems. As López concluded, “training and practicing will always cost less than stopping a cyber intruder’s operation once it has begun.”

Video coverage with more details

For more information, visit the ESET website: https://www.eset.com/ve/. Also, follow them on social media: Instagram (@esetla) and Facebook (ESET).

Through on-site coverage and information from ESET and Comstat Rowland Comunicaciones Estratégicas Integrales

Audiovisual production: Ida Febres

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The Gentlemen ransomware attacked more than 250 victims in 17 countries, including Mexico, Colombia, Chile, and Argentina, and represents a new era of customized and ultra-adaptive attacks. Unlike other groups, this Ransomware as a Service (RaaS) studies the specific defenses of its victims and adapts its tools during the campaign to overcome existing controls. ESET, a leading company in proactive threat detection, analyzes the new landscape of ransomware groups and warns how this disciplined, meticulous, and highly methodical organization has disrupted traditional approaches to become one of the most active threats since July 2025.

“It is an emerging Ransomware-as-a-Service group that burst onto the cybercrime scene in mid-2025. Unlike other groups with more sloppy or rustic aesthetics, The Gentlemen stands out for its polished brand identity. It even maintains a leak site on the dark web with a professional logo and a slogan that reinforces its image as a disciplined and highly detail-oriented organization. This professionalism is not merely aesthetic; it is reflected in the precision of its attacks and the technical quality of its tools,” says Martina Lopez, cybersecurity researcher at ESET Latin America.

Their operating model is based on double extortion, a tactic where they not only encrypt the victim’s files to block access, but also exfiltrate confidential data before encryption. Once they possess the information, they threaten to publish it on their leaks site if a ransom is not paid. This strategy puts massive pressure on companies, especially those that cannot afford a public data breach.

A ransomware attack by The Gentlemen typically begins by exploiting exposed internet access points (systems with open administration) or using previously stolen credentials. Once inside, they deploy tools to scan the internal network, understand how the company is organized, and identify users with elevated privileges, especially those with full access to the systems.

To move within the network and escalate the attack, they use tools that allow them to remotely execute actions on multiple computers and modify key configurations. In this way, they manage to distribute the ransomware simultaneously across all connected devices, further weakening security mechanisms to facilitate remote access and control.

In the final stage, they combine two critical actions: first, they steal sensitive information and send it to external servers in encrypted form; second, they lock down systems using encryption. Once the attack is complete, they execute processes designed to erase their tracks: they delete activity logs, remote connections, and any evidence that could allow them to reconstruct what happened, thus hindering subsequent investigations.

Their first documented victim was registered on June 30, 2025, and since then, their activity has not ceased. They have affected critical sectors such as manufacturing, construction, healthcare, insurance, and financial services.

Geographically, their impact is global, but the most affected countries include the United States and Thailand, followed by India, Mexico, Colombia, Spain, and France. This distribution suggests that the group takes advantage of access opportunities wherever they arise, without an apparent geopolitical agenda.

In mid-March 2026, they published on their website the attack on two organizations in Colombia in the healthcare and media sectors. During February, they attacked a government scientific research institute in Argentina, and in March, they claimed responsibility for an attack on an organization in Chile. According to the ransomware.live website, they also reported victims in Brazil, Peru, Ecuador, Venezuela, Guatemala, the Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, and Panama.

ESET provides the following list of recommendations to protect yourself from The Gentlemen ransomware:

• Reduce internet exposure: review which systems are accessible from outside and close any unnecessary access, especially administration panels or remote access.
• Protect credentials: use unique and strong passwords, enable two-factor authentication, and monitor any suspicious logins.
• Keep everything up to date: apply security patches to operating systems, servers, and applications. Many of their intrusions exploit known vulnerabilities.
• Detect anomalous behavior: Implement solutions that allow you to identify unusual activity within the network, such as after-hours access or unexpected remote executions.
• Limit privileges: Not all users need full access. Reducing permissions minimizes the impact if an account is compromised.
• Segment the network: Separating critical systems prevents an attacker from moving freely and compromising the entire infrastructure.
• Perform backups: Carry out regular backups and store them in isolation, verifying that they can be restored correctly.
• Train the team: Human error remains one of the main entry points. Awareness is key.

“In a scenario where attacks are no longer massive but personalized, the question is no longer whether an organization can be targeted, but when. Understanding how groups like The Gentlemen operate is the first step to anticipating a threat that no longer gives warning,” concludes Lopez from ESET.

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

For useful preventative information, visit https://www.eset.com/ve/ and follow them on social media @eset_ve, Instagram (@esetla), and Facebook (ESET.

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Although the conflict is unfolding in the Middle East, the repercussions in cyberspace can affect organizations worldwide. A clear example occurred less than 24 hours after the start of the conflict, when Iranian drones attacked cloud infrastructure facilities in the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, affecting critical services and business applications in various regions.

ESET, a leading company in proactive threat detection, analyzes the impact of the war in Iran on the global cybersecurity landscape and warns about the main risks that organizations must monitor in this scenario.

Such incidents demonstrate that physical distance from a war zone does not guarantee isolation from its consequences, especially in highly interconnected environments.

However, for most organizations, the most immediate risk manifests itself in cyberspace. Following the initial military operations, actors linked to Iran rapidly increased their activity, with dozens of hacktivist groups actively supporting their interests.

Cyberspace is yet another active front, where attacks can escalate rapidly and have a global impact

This context creates a scenario in which multiple threat actors—from organized groups to hacktivists—can carry out attacks with different objectives, expanding the risk surface for companies and organizations worldwide.

“These types of conflicts highlight that cyberspace is yet another active front, where attacks can escalate rapidly and have a global impact. Organizations must be prepared to face an increase in malicious activity, even if they are far from the epicenter of the conflict,” comments Martina Lopez, Information Security Specialist at ESET Latin America.

Given this scenario, ESET emphasizes the importance of closely monitoring the evolution of threats, strengthening protection strategies, and understanding that current geopolitical conflicts have a direct impact on the digital world.

If you would like to learn more about this topic, you can visit: The impact of the war in Iran on cybersecurity: key risks you should monitor.

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).

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Interaction with chatbots (ChatGPT, Gemini, Copilot, Claude, Perplexity, among others) has come to be treated as an intimate and secure space. Emotional, psychological, work-related, and medical concerns are entrusted to them. ESET, a leading company in proactive threat detection, analyzes what type of information is typically shared with AI chatbots, how it could be exposed, and what the real impact of a leak could be. Furthermore, they share digital best practices for continuing to use these tools without putting oneself at risk.

“It’s not new that many people use chatbots as if they were private spaces. Using them in this way contradicts the nature of these tools, since the platforms themselves emphasize that conversations can be stored, analyzed, or reviewed to improve the service. Chatbots were not designed as a confidential space, even though the conversational experience might lead one to think otherwise. While the main AI platforms claim to implement security and privacy measures (access controls, monitoring, infrastructure protection), this does not eliminate the risk of data breaches, nor is it synonymous with invulnerability,” highlights Martina Lopez, Cybersecurity Researcher at ESET Latin America.

When using them as personal assistants or even advisors, personal and sensitive information is often shared almost without realizing it. This includes:

• Personal data. Sensitive information such as name, age, city, and country, but also daily habits: where you work, who you live with, and your family composition. This information, combined and in the wrong hands, can be dangerous.
• Work-related information. Driven by the need to “Help me improve this,” many users share internal emails, contracts, reports, presentations, business strategies, campaigns, customer and supplier details, conversations, and support tickets. They also share source code and internal architectures.
• Medical, psychological, or emotional consultations. Chatbots are also perceived by many people as advisors or specialists (a practice that can be dangerous). Health-related issues are shared, such as symptoms, diagnoses, and medications, as well as personal matters like relationship conflicts, grief, questions they wouldn’t ask on other social media platforms, or requests for advice.
• Opinions, beliefs, and sensitive stances. Chatbots receive opinions from users with political or religious ideologies, views on companies, bosses, or colleagues, and also information that, taken out of context, can cause reputational damage.

“The problem isn’t what’s shared, but rather that false sense of intimacy and privacy, which can be shattered very easily. Months of conversations build a profile that can be extremely valuable to a cyberattacker,” adds Lopez from ESET.

The information shared with AI chatbots can be exposed and fall into the hands of cybercriminals for various reasons. The main one is if someone gains access to the account. This can happen by accessing the password, falling victim to a phishing attack, or using the same password for multiple services. Another reason is manipulated chatbots, which can be tricked with malicious prompts by cybercriminals to obtain user information. Furthermore, accepting terms and conditions without reading them is another risk, since chatbots collect and store usage information, such as history and conversations, to train their language model by default. It’s also important to consider potential security breaches, platform errors that expose user conversations and history, or if an extension or app is monitoring too much. For example, if a plugin is installed to enhance the chatbot’s capabilities and that app malfunctions, is vulnerable, or is malicious, the conversation could slip out of the main provider’s control.

The 5 key risks associated with a chatbot leak, according to ESET

1. Identity theft / Social engineering: Chatbot conversations provide human context. Cyberattackers can thus obtain information about habits, interests, routines, services used, problems that transcend these, and even the tone of voice used. This allows for much more personalized attacks, through emails or messages that appear to be written by someone familiar, scams that include real-life details, or identity theft that is much harder to detect.
2. Corporate espionage: Since many users rely on chatbots for work support, attackers can obtain confidential information such as strategies, documents, internal decisions, customer information, and pricing and/or product details. Beyond the legal risks this situation may entail, it can also represent a competitive advantage for third parties or the breach of certain contractual obligations.
3. Reputational damage: If private opinions, professional doubts, or intimate thoughts are exposed, the consequences can range from workplace conflicts to a loss of professional credibility.
4. Exposure of sensitive data: These types of chatbots are also used as a space for intimate consultations and often contain personal information such as symptoms, diagnoses, treatments, religious or political beliefs, and personal or family conflicts. If this information were leaked, the impact on the victim could be devastating: stigmatization, discrimination, and even emotional distress.
5. Extortion: When a cyberattacker has access to private information, they can exert pressure through credible threats and personalized blackmail. The goal? To obtain some kind of financial gain from the victim.

A good way to reduce the impact of exposed conversations is to adopt best practices when interacting with these chatbots. A highly useful preventative checklist

• Do not share personal data (ID number, date of birth, email, phone number) is ESET’s top recommendation.
• Anonymize real-life situations (change names, companies, locations).
• Do not attach sensitive documents, confidential information, or credentials.
• Review privacy settings (what is saved, what is used for training).
• Protect your account with a strong password and two-factor authentication.
• Use different accounts for work and personal use.
• Ask yourself: Would I say this out loud in a room with strangers?

“The comfort of a fluid, natural, and unjudged conversation makes us lower our guard and share information we would never publish in any other digital space. A leak of conversations exposes not only information but also routines, vulnerabilities, decisions, and emotions. However, this scenario should be taken as an invitation to understand what these platforms are and what they are not. They are not confidential spaces, personal advisors, or vaults of sensitive information. They are powerful tools, but like all technology, they require discretion, boundaries, and responsible digital habits,” concludes the ESET researcher.

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).

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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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Employee advocacy has existed as a concept for over a decade. But what began as a well-intentioned way to enhance corporate profile, thought leadership, and marketing also has some unintended consequences. When professionals post about their work, their company, and their role, they expect to reach like-minded professionals, as well as potential clients, allies, and partners. ESET, a leading company in proactive threat detection, warns that malicious actors are also paying attention and that the more information there is, the more opportunities there are to carry out malicious activities that could seriously affect an organization. Once that information is publicly available, it is often used to help create convincing spearphishing or business email compromise (BEC) attacks.

“The first stage of a typical social engineering attack is information gathering. The next is to weaponize that information in a spearphishing attack designed to trick the recipient into unknowingly installing malware on their device. Or, potentially, into sharing their corporate credentials to gain initial access. This could be achieved through an email, a text message, or even a phone call. Alternatively, they could use the information to impersonate a high-level executive or supplier in an email, phone call, or video call requesting an urgent bank transfer,” reveals Martina Lopez, Cybersecurity Researcher at ESET Latin America.

“The first stage of a typical social engineering attack is information gathering.” The main platforms for sharing this type of information are the usual ones. LinkedIn is perhaps the most widely used. It could be described as the world’s largest open database of corporate information: a veritable treasure trove of job titles, roles, responsibilities, and internal relationships. It’s also where recruiters post job openings, which can reveal too many technical details that can then be exploited in spearphishing attacks.

GitHub is perhaps best known in the cybersecurity context as a place where careless developers post hardcoded secrets, IP addresses, and customer data. But they can also share more innocuous information about project names, CI/CD pipeline names, and details about the technology stacks and open-source libraries they use. They can also share corporate email addresses in Git commit configurations.

Then there are the classic end-user-oriented social platforms, such as Instagram and X. This is where employees often share details about their travel plans to conferences and other events, which could be used against them and their organization. Even information on your company’s website could be useful to a potential scammer or hacker. Think about details on technical platforms, suppliers and partners, or important corporate announcements, such as mergers and acquisitions. All of this could serve as a pretext for sophisticated phishing.

The attacks mentioned above typically require a combination of impersonation, urgency, and relevance. Here are some hypothetical examples:

• An attacker finds information on LinkedIn about a new employee in the IT department of Company A, including their main duties and responsibilities. They impersonate a key technology vendor and claim an urgent security update is needed, referencing the target’s name, contact information, and job title. The update link is malicious.
• A malicious actor finds information about two colleagues on GitHub, including the project they are working on. They impersonate one of them in an email asking the other to review an attached document, which contains malware.
• A scammer finds a video of an executive on LinkedIn or a company website. They see on the person’s Instagram feed that they are giving a presentation and will be out of the office. Knowing that the executive may be difficult to contact, they launch a BEC deepfake attack using video or audio to trick a member of the finance team into transferring urgent funds to a new vendor.

ESET describes real-world examples of malicious actors using open-source intelligence (OSINT) techniques in the early stages of attacks. These include:

• A business email (BEC) attack that cost Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta (CHOA) $3.6 million: Malicious actors likely reviewed press releases about a newly announced campus to gather details, including the hospital’s construction partner. They then used LinkedIn and/or the company’s website to identify key executives and finance team members at the construction firm involved (JE Dunn). Finally, they impersonated the chief financial officer in an email to CHOA’s finance team requesting that they update their payment information for JE Dunn.
• The Russia-based SEABORGIUM and Iranian-aligned TA453 groups use OSINT for reconnaissance before launching spearphishing attacks against pre-selected targets. According to the UK’s NCSC, cybercriminals use social media and professional networking platforms to “research the interests [of their targets] and identify their real-world social or professional contacts.” Once they have established trust and a relationship via email, they send a link to collect the victims’ credentials.

Education: the most powerful preventive weapon

“While the risks of oversharing are real, the solutions are simple. The most powerful weapon is education. Updating security awareness programs is crucial to ensuring that everyone in a company understands the importance of not oversharing on social media. Ask staff to avoid sharing information through unsolicited direct messages, even if they recognize the sender (as their account could have been spoofed), and ensure they are able to detect phishing, BEC, and deepfake attempts,” advises Lopez from ESET Latin America.

” Furthermore, among ESET Latin America’s security recommendations is the need to support this with a strict social media policy, defining clear limits on what can and cannot be shared, and establishing clear boundaries between personal and professional/official accounts. It may also be necessary to review and update corporate websites and accounts to remove any information that could be used as a weapon.

Checking multifactor authentication (MFA) and strong passwords (stored in a password manager) should also be standard practice for all social media accounts, in case professional accounts are compromised to attack colleagues.

Finally, monitor publicly accessible accounts whenever possible to detect any information that could be used for spearphishing and business email marketing (BEC), and conduct red team exercises with employees to test their awareness.

“AI is making it faster and easier than ever for malicious actors to profile their targets, gather OSINT, and then draft convincing emails/messages in perfect natural language. AI-powered deepfakes further increase their options. The takeaway should be that if something is in the public domain, you can expect a cybercriminal to know it too and soon come knocking,” concludes Martina Lopez of 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:  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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In Latin America, the mobile landscape has very clear characteristics. The region concentrates many malware detections for Android, focusing on Mexico and Brazil, according to the latest ESET Threat Report. Unlike more northerly regions or Europe, Android is the most prevalent operating system by a significant margin. In line with what ESET, a leading company in proactive threat detection, observes globally, the phone is the primary device for most people, and recent devices coexist with models that no longer receive updates. According to the research group, this mix of high dependency, fragmentation, and outdated versions creates an environment where many malicious codes find space to proliferate. This is an issue we should all be aware of, whether we are basic and occasional users or advanced and active ones.

“In addition, many of the most effective distribution channels remain fully operational in the region. SMS or messaging campaigns with direct links, modified APKs shared outside of official stores, and applications that manage to enter legitimate stores with very few reviews or signs of real activity continue to be key vectors. This ecosystem facilitates both the circulation of known malware families and the constant emergence of new or unsophisticated variants that still manage to gain traction,” comments Martina Lopez, Cybersecurity Researcher at ESET Latin America.

ESET analyzes the 3 most frequently detected malware families in the region during 2025

Trojan.Android/Exploit.CVE-2012-6636: An old vulnerability that remains present in the mobile ecosystem because many Android applications continue to use legacy components. The flaw affects apps that use WebView with an insecure configuration and that were compiled with versions prior to Android 4.2. Even if the device is modern, the application may retain this vulnerable behavior. In this context, a malicious webpage loaded within the WebView itself can interact with the app’s internal code in ways that should not be possible, opening the door to the execution of unauthorized actions.

In the current mobile threat landscape, this exploit is not usually the focus of complex campaigns, but it does appear embedded in APKs distributed outside of official app stores or present in applications that no longer receive updates. Publicly available exploits exist for CVE-2012-6636, including modules embedded in frameworks like Metasploit, making it easy for malicious actors to use. Furthermore, it was reported as one of the most prevalent Android exploits in 2023, according to the ESET Security Report 2024.

Trojan.Android/Exploit.Lotoor: This is a family of privilege escalation exploits used for over a decade to gain root access on Android devices. It encompasses a set of techniques that abuse operating system vulnerabilities in various early versions of Android, especially flaws discovered between 2010 and 2013. Under this umbrella are exploits that take advantage of errors in drivers, system services, or memory management, allowing code to be executed with privileges higher than those of the application.

Its modules continue to reappear within malicious tools that seek to activate advanced functions such as uninstalling security apps, modifying internal configurations, or installing additional payloads. This is not the first time the research team has observed Lotoor in the top spots.

Trojan.Android/Pandora: This is malicious code linked to a variant of Mirai adapted for the Android ecosystem. It was first observed in 2023 within popular streaming applications in the region, especially on Android TV boxes and sticks commonly used to access unofficial content. In these cases, attackers distribute APKs that function as legitimate streaming apps but include a malicious component capable of turning the device into part of a botnet. In some models, modified firmware was even detected that came infected from the factory, amplifying the reach of the attack.

Once installed, Pandora maintains communication with a command and control server, receives instructions, and executes the typical capabilities of a Mirai-based botnet, with the focus on launching distributed denial-of-service attacks.

“This 2025 outlook shows us that Android threats continue to rely on well-known vectors and the lack of device and application updates, which keeps exploits and vulnerabilities that have been circulating for years alive. Even so, this doesn’t mean the risk is limited to the usual suspects. Less widespread, but equally relevant, threats also persist, such as banking trojans or fraudulent lending apps, which operate in a much more targeted way and seek a direct impact on the user’s finances. And, in parallel, emerging threats and increasingly innovative techniques are appearing, such as malware capable of cloning cards via NFC, reflecting a constantly evolving mobile ecosystem with a growing level of sophistication,” concludes Lopez from ESET Latin America.

In this context, protecting information and devices from these threats becomes vital.

ESET shares the following tips to avoid becoming a victim

• Keep your device updated and don’t use older versions of Android if an update is available.
• Install applications only from official stores or verified sources.
• Avoid APKs from unknown sources, even if they promise “premium” features or free content.
• Check permissions, developer activity, and the actual number of reviews before installing an app.
• Use reliable security solutions that detect exploits, Trojans, and anomalous behavior.
• Avoid disabling system protections and prevent the installation of unknown apps.
• Be wary of messages, links, or ads that promise quick access, discounts, or special features.

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).

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(With information and images provided by ESET and Comstat Rowland)

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Data is the most valuable asset for companies and organizations, as it contains privileged information about customers, business strategies, research, technological developments and much more. Hence, the loss or unauthorized access to this information can have devastating consequences for companies.

In the business arena, data leaks can lead to loss of customer trust, costly litigation, reputational damage, and significant financial losses.

All these topics were the center of the analysis during the fourteenth edition of ESET Security Day Venezuela 2024, which had a wide participation of professionals, companies and users interested in cybersecurity, who were received by Michele Flammia, general director of ESET Venezuela (Logintel), and they highlighted the quality of the presentations, the relevance of the topics addressed and the opportunity to interact with experts in the area.

The event, organized by ESET, a leading computer security company, has become a regional reference in terms of updating and analyzing the latest threats and trends in the digital field.

Held on May 30 in Caracas, the event brought together cybersecurity experts and industry professionals, thus reaffirming ESET’s commitment to education and awareness in this matter.

Secure data

During the event, three prominent speakers presented presentations on four topics of utmost relevance in the field of cybersecurity. The first of them was Martina López, from Argentina, Security Researcher at ESET Latin America, who referred to Data Protection as “The new gold of the 21st century”, underlining the great importance that data protection has acquired in a world where Information has become a highly coveted asset, both by entities and cybercriminals, hence the protection of information becomes vital for corporations.

During his presentation, López detailed key aspects of this problem, from the evolution of data breaches and sophisticated espionage attacks, to the threats that organizations face today. He presented a practical example of how a person, not necessarily very computer expert, can gain remote access to a company’s data and use it for illegal purposes.

Legislation

Carlos López Rodríguez, Support and Training Manager at ESET Venezuela, spoke on the topic “Data Protection: Safeguarding corporate gold” and How to prevent cybercriminals from accessing the infrastructure of organizations and mitigate the impact of security incidents ?

He shared strategies and solutions to protect against the most common cyber threats facing organizations and users today. Among these threats are malware, ransomware, phishing and attacks on the supply chain, in constant and accelerated evolution due to the use of artificial intelligence. It recommended the implementation of appropriate security measures, staff training and constant updating of software and systems.

In another talk, Carlos López referred to “Data protection laws: an ally more than an enemy”, the reality of legislation in Latin America related to data protection and its application in organizations. He explained that in Venezuela there is no updated legislation on this matter.

Cybersecurity culture

Finally, José Luis Rangel, Commercial Manager of ESET Venezuela, closed the event’s presentations with his presentation on the topic: “We build the cybersecurity culture together,” in which he indicated that organizations face a primary challenge such as is the ability to adjust to regional labor and regulatory developments, “it is crucial that each team member has access to the necessary information while ensuring their security against cyber threats. This paradigm shift urges us to rethink the ways of communicating, adapting methods and habits that build a culture of collaborative cybersecurity.”

In addition to the conferences, ESET Security Day Venezuela 2024 also offered a space for exchange and collaboration between participants, with a Table of Experts, moderated by journalist Edgar Rincón and in which specialists in the area of ​​cybersecurity participated: Milthon Chávez, Rafael Núñez, Martina López and Aníbal Vera, who answered questions to the attendees to share other experiences in the area.

Video

We invite you to listen and watch, as well as share and comment on the following video coverage:

For more information, visit the ESET website: https://www.logintel.com/ve/.

You can also visit their social networks: X (@eset_ve) Instagram (@eset_ve).

Audiovisual production: Ida Febres

Source of information and reference images: In-person audiovisual coverage of El Sumario and DOBLE LLAVE, as well as texts from Comstat Rowland Comunicaciones Estratégicas Integrales

Visit our news channel on Google News and follow us to get accurate, interesting information and stay up to date with everything. You can also see our daily content on Twitter and Instagram

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