Online grooming is not a new threat; however, the methods predators use to contact and target children and teens are constantly evolving. ESET, a leading company in proactive threat detection, through its Digipadresinitiative, analyzes how online harassment and grooming now often originate in everyday virtual spaces—such as multiplayer video game platforms, community servers, and direct messaging applications—and not exclusively on traditional social networks. Understanding what grooming is and how it has evolved in recent years can help families identify warning signs without assuming that every friendship formed online is dangerous.

Grooming is a process by which an adult deliberately establishes a relationship with a child or adolescent, often lying about their true identity or age, to gain their trust before exploiting or abusing them. Although this crime can occur in both physical and digital environments, the internet has completely changed the ease with which abusers can contact minors and the difficulty adults face in detecting what is happening.

Online grooming can begin in any space where a child or teenager interacts with others: multiplayer video games, social media, messaging apps, live chat rooms, or online communities built around shared interests. From their home, a single abuser can contact dozens or even hundreds of children and teenagers.

The incorporation of new digital tools, including artificial intelligence, makes it easier for online predators to create highly convincing fake identities, perfecting their fictitious profiles to match the tastes and language of their victims. However, Digipadres warns that, despite technological advances, the underlying psychological strategy remains unchanged: abusers continue to exploit the natural need for friendship, attention, understanding, and a sense of belonging that children and teenagers experience.

“Unlike offline harassment, which is restricted by geographical barriers and limited opportunities for physical contact, the internet allows an abuser to simultaneously contact dozens or hundreds of minors from their home, taking advantage of the dynamism and immediacy of the digital environment. Despite the emergence of new technologies, the best protection strategy for mothers, fathers, and caregivers remains the same: maintain open communication, promote healthy digital habits, and constantly monitor children,” says Mario Micucci, Cybersecurity Researcher at ESET Latin America.

The risk is grows; children must be protected

In the initial stages of grooming, contact rarely begins with explicit sexual content or threats. Instead, it follows a gradual pattern of manipulation:

• Simulated genuine interest: They show unusual interest in the child’s hobbies, favorite games, or everyday situations.
• Building trust: They provide constant emotional support, validation, and compliments to quickly establish an emotional bond.
• Migration to private channels: They encourage the shift of interactions from public or group chats to private messages or encrypted messaging applications.
• Demand for secrecy: They ask the minor to keep the relationship strictly confidential from their parents, teachers, or friends.
• Gradual introduction of personal/sexual topics: Once a bond of trust is established, they gradually introduce intimate conversations.
• Manipulation and emotional pressure: They resort to guilt, coercion, or threats if the victim tries to distance themselves or end the conversation.

Faced with this constantly evolving dynamic, the specialist emphasizes that assuming any friendship formed online is inherently dangerous is not the solution. Instead, active and conscious guidance from responsible adults is essential.

To mitigate the risks of grooming, ESET recommends prioritizing the following preventative measures:

1. Maintain open and continuous communication: Basic measures, such as parental controls and clear rules about technology use, can help, but should never replace open communication. Foster an environment of trust so that children can express doubts, concerns, or uncomfortable situations without fear of judgment or punishment.
2. Promote healthy digital habits: Teach privacy guidelines, the importance of not sharing sensitive information, and the proper configuration of digital accounts.
3. Constant involvement: Actively participate in the virtual environments frequented by children, understanding the dynamics of their favorite games and platforms.

“New apps, artificial intelligence tools, and online communities will continue to transform the digital environment, making it impossible to anticipate every new platform or trend. Instead of trying to keep up with every technological change, mothers, fathers, and caregivers can focus on what is most important and lasting: helping children and adolescents develop the confidence needed to recognize manipulation attempts, question suspicious behavior, and know that they can always ask for help. These are skills that will remain useful no matter what the internet looks like in five or ten years,” emphasizes Micucci from ESET.

Digipadres is an ESET initiative, based on SaferKidsOnline, designed to support and raise awareness among mothers, fathers, teachers, and caregivers about the safe and responsible use of technology by children and adolescents. Through educational content, practical guides, and current research, it provides key tools to protect minors in the digital ecosystem.

To learn more, visit: https://digipadres.com/novedades/147-la-evolucion-del-grooming-en-linea-como-los-agresores-en-linea-captan-a-ninos-y-adolescentes.

More news from ESET and cybersecurity at: https://www.welivesecurity.com/es/

ESET invites you to learn more about cybersecurity in Venezuela by visiting: https://www.eset.com/ve/, and following them on social media @eset_ve. Also on Instagram @esetla) and Facebook (ESET).

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La entrada The evolution of online grooming: How predators target children and teens in new digital environments apareció primero en Bitfinance.

China is solving one of the safety challenges in monitoring high-voltage cables with snake-like robots that move easily along the power lines.

Inspecting high-voltage power lines is now more efficient thanks to robots that can move directly over the cables in the city of Kunming, in China’s Yunnan province.

The first large-scale trials of these devices are being conducted in the area. “Developed by the Guandu District power supply office, the robots coil around the power lines and move along them while inspecting the condition of the infrastructure using integrated cameras and sensors.”

The devices’ mission is to “detect damaged cables, worn components, or thermal anomalies that could lead to breakdowns or power outages.” They operate using energy drawn directly from the lines they inspect, allowing them to “operate for extended periods without recharging and maintain virtually continuous monitoring.”

Their efficiency in testing stems from their articulated, snake-like design, which enables them to navigate around obstacles in the power lines, such as insulators or splices.

It is important to note that in the country, in addition to these snake robots, “electrical companies are also incorporating robot dogs, drones, and intelligent monitoring systems to strengthen grid reliability and reduce the risks associated with maintenance tasks.”

M.Pino

Source: 20minutos

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La entrada Snake-like robots revolutionize high-voltage cable inspection in China apareció primero en Bitfinance.

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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La entrada What happen if our conversations with AI chatbots are exposed or revealed? apareció primero en Bitfinance.

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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La entrada Oversharing and Cybersecurity: Dangers when employees share too much online apareció primero en Bitfinance.

The year 2025 was marked by record losses from attacks and fraud in the cryptocurrency universe. In the first half of the year alone, thefts totaled $2.17 billion, surpassing the total value recorded in 2024, according to Chainalysis. Projections indicate that 2025 could end with more than $4 billion in stolen assets, an all-time high.

ESET, a leading company in proactive threat detection, reviews some of the major cases that occurred in 2025 and how seemingly simple vulnerabilities resulted in multimillion-dollar thefts that shook the cryptocurrency market.

This scenario of vulnerability contrasts sharply with the growing institutionalization of the sector, where cryptocurrency ETFs registered record inflows of $5.95 billion and corporate investors like Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy) announced new Bitcoin purchases. The market, however, exposed its security weaknesses. “The BBC noted that the $1.5 billion attack on the Bybit exchange, attributed to hackers linked to North Korea, was the largest in history, thus symbolizing this contradiction: even with regulatory and technical advances, known vulnerabilities continue to be exploited,” comments Camilo Gutiérrez Amaya, Head of the Research Lab at ESET Latin America.

2025 is shaping up to be a year of historic losses for the cryptocurrency market. According to CertiK, the industry lost nearly $2.5 billion to attacks and scams in the first six months of the year alone. Chainalysis, on the other hand, noted that the volume of stolen crypto assets in the same period surpassed the $2.17 billion mark recorded for all of 2024.

At this rate, according to ESET, losses could exceed $4 billion by the end of the year, making 2025 the year with the largest amount of stolen assets in cryptocurrency history.

Vulnerabilities that can lead to multimillion-dollar losses

ESET has analyzed the most significant incidents of the year, illustrating how vulnerabilities of different kinds can result in multimillion-dollar losses:

1. Attacks on exchanges and centralized platforms (CEXs): Among the most emblematic incidents is the attack on Bybit, which resulted in the theft of approximately $1.5 billion worth of Ethereum, the largest ever recorded in cryptocurrency history. In this case, the attackers didn’t directly breach the exchange’s servers, but rather compromised a third-party platform provider, changing the wallet address where the funds were transferred. ByBit thought it was transferring the funds to its own digital wallet, but it was sending everything to the hackers. The sophistication of the operation revealed how chains of trust and external integrations can become entry points for highly specialized criminals.
2. Exploits in DeFi protocols: The Balancer attack, which caused losses of over $100 million, highlighted one of the recurring weaknesses in the DeFi space: errors in the code. A bug in the smart contract allowed unauthorized withdrawals, exposing how small logical flaws can be exploited to compromise an entire protocol. The impact extended to derivative projects, such as Beets Finance, which also reported losses in the millions. These incidents reinforce the importance of continuous and independent audits, a challenge for protocols that prioritize innovation and speed of launch.
3. Phishing scams: While large platforms suffered coordinated attacks, individual users remained the preferred targets. Phishing scams, in which victims are tricked into voluntarily surrendering their credentials, resulted in $410 million in losses, according to Certik. Attacks targeting individuals are estimated to have accounted for 23.35 % of all stolen funds during the period, a sign that social engineering remains as effective as technical intrusions.
4. Historical attacks and bridge vulnerabilities: Although no major bridge-related incidents occurred in 2025, this type of attack remains one of the most destructive. The memory of the 2022 Ronin Bridge breach, in which $600 million was stolen, remains a constant warning. These failures show how the interconnectivity between networks, essential for the scalability of the crypto ecosystem, also expands the attack surface and can turn a single code error into a systemic collapse.

“Recent attacks reveal the increasing professionalization of cryptocurrency-related cybercrime. Even with the growing technical and regulatory maturity of the ecosystem, cybercriminals have shown they remain one step ahead in 2025, improving their methods, exploiting known vulnerabilities, and diversifying their targets. While the industry has matured in terms of regulation, transparency, and infrastructure, many attacks exploited human error, poorly managed integrations, and unaudited code—issues that innovation alone cannot eliminate,” notes Gutierrez Amaya.

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 Cybersecurity and cryptocurrencies: advances, risks, and lessons learned in 2025 apareció primero en Bitfinance.

Venezuelans attended Fitelven 2025 in person to learn about technological innovations in the broad field of telecommunications, cybersecurity, continuous training, and prevention, with presentations by, among other specialists and experts, Rafael Núñez Aponte, Director of Más Que Seguridad.

Núñez gave a masterclass on ransomware, emphasizing the importance of raising awareness and fostering a culture of security and protection. One of the topics that most captured the audience’s attention at this edition of the event was related to banking security and the protection of online transactions, with an emphasis on online users.

 

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Una publicación compartida por Seguridad Informática (@masqueseguridad)

Más Que Seguridad (MQS) and Rafael Núñez participated in Fitelven 2025, interacted with the media and journalists, engaged with the public, congratulated the organizers, and commended the fair for its consolidation, as well as the various exhibitors for their positive growth.

 

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Una publicación compartida por Seguridad Informática (@masqueseguridad)

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Coverage of Fitelven 2025 by EL SUMARIO media group

Video production: Jesús Ramírez / Ida Febres

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La entrada Cybersecurity was a key focus at Fitelven 2025 with MQS and Rafael Núñez apareció primero en Bitfinance.

Doreen Bogdan-Martin, Secretary-General of the United Nations International Telecommunication Union (ITU), recently stated that in light of the dangers of fragmentation in the use of AI and its consequences for deepening inequalities, global regulation is essential.

The official told AFP that she “hopes that AI can truly benefit humanity.” To achieve this, it is urgent to consider “the risks posed by this rapidly evolving technology—including the fear of job loss, the spread of fake news and misinformation, and the deterioration of the social fabric—and she insisted that regulation is key.”

Her warning comes after US President Donald Trump presented an “aggressive, low-regulation strategy to ensure the United States has an advantage over China in AI.”

The United Nations must analyze the positions of various countries and companies on AI, its development, application, and regulation to establish measures that, far from slowing its progress, optimize its application and minimize risks.

“For Bogdan-Martin, it is key to have a dialogue between these different strategies,” bridging the gaps between countries.

M.Pino

Source: swissinfo

(Reference image source: Mohamed Nohassi on Unsplash)

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Apple’s control over its ecosystem of devices and apps has historically been strict. Additionally, several built-in security features, such as strong encryption and containerization, help prevent data leakage and limit the spread of malware. However, in addition to all this, ESET, a leading company in proactive threat detection, warns in this extensive analysis that risks are not completely eliminated, as everyday scams and other threats also bombard iOS users… and while some are more common than others, they all demand attention.

“The fact that iOS apps typically originate from Apple’s official App Store and must pass strict testing for approval has avoided security and privacy headaches over the years. However, the recent EU antitrust law, known as the Digital Markets Act (DMA), seeks to give iOS users the option of using third-party app marketplaces. This will present new challenges for Apple in protecting iOS users from potential harm and for those who use its products, as they will need to be more aware of threats. This change in the rules of the game will undoubtedly be exploited by cybercrime,” comments Camilo Gutiérrez Amaya, Head of the ESET Latin America IT Security Lab.

ESET has also studied and offers its opinion on other, possibly more immediate, threats targeting iOS users worldwide:

Jailbroken devices: Deliberately jailbreaking a device to allow what Apple calls “unauthorized modifications” could violate the Software License Agreement and disable some built-in security features, such as Secure Boot and Data Execution Prevention. The device will no longer receive automatic updates. And being able to download apps from outside the App Store exposes you to malicious and/or buggy software.

Malicious apps: While Apple does a good job of vetting apps, it isn’t 100 % accurate. Malicious apps recently detected on the App Store include: A fake version of the LastPass password manager designed to harvest credentials; a screenshot-reading malware dubbed “SparkCat,” disguised as artificial intelligence and food delivery apps; as well as a fake crypto wallet app called “Rabby Wallet & Crypto Solution.”

Downloading apps from websites: As detailed in the latest ESET Threat Report, progressive web apps (PWAs) allow direct installation without requiring users to grant explicit permissions, meaning downloads could go unnoticed. ESET discovered this technique used to disguise banking malware as legitimate mobile banking apps.

Phishing/Social Engineering: Phishing attacks via email, text (or iMessage), and even voice are common. They impersonate legitimate brands and trick users into providing their credentials, clicking on malicious links, or opening attachments to trigger malware downloads. Apple IDs are among the most valuable logins, as they can provide access to all data stored in an iCloud account and/or allow attackers to make iTunes/App Store purchases. ESET advises caution with:

• Fake pop-ups claiming the device has a security issue
• Fraudulent phone calls and FaceTime calls impersonating Apple Support or partner organizations
• Fake promotions offering freebies and sweepstakes
• Calendar invitation spam with phishing links

As an example, in a highly sophisticated campaign, threat actors and attack planners used social engineering techniques to trick users into downloading a mobile device management (MDM) profile that would allow them to control the victims’ devices. They then deployed the GoldPickaxe malware, designed to collect facial biometric data and use it to bypass banking logins.

Risks of public Wi-Fi networks: A public Wi-Fi hotspot can be a fake access point created by threat actors to monitor web traffic and steal sensitive information, such as banking passwords. Even if the access point is legitimate, many don’t encrypt data in transit, meaning hackers with the right tools could see the websites you visit and the credentials you enter. That’s why ESET recommends using a VPN, which creates an encrypted tunnel between your device and the internet.

Vulnerabilities: While Apple puts a lot of time and effort into ensuring its code is free of vulnerabilities, sometimes flaws occur in production. In these cases, hackers can take advantage if users haven’t updated their device, for example by sending malicious links in messages that trigger an exploit if clicked.

• Last year, Apple was forced to patch a vulnerability that could allow attackers to steal information from a locked device using Siri voice commands.
• Sometimes, threat actors and commercial companies themselves research new (zero-day) vulnerabilities to exploit. Although rare and highly targeted, attacks that exploit these vulnerabilities are often used to covertly install spyware to spy on victims’ devices.

Prevention and protection are necessary and wise

While malware lurks on iOS devices, it is also possible to minimize exposure to threats. ESET shares the following key tactics:

• Keep iOS and all apps updated. This will reduce the window of opportunity for threat actors to exploit any vulnerabilities in older versions to achieve their goals.
• Always use strong, unique passwords for all accounts, perhaps using the ESET Password Manager for iOS, and enable multi-factor authentication if offered. This is easy on iPhones, as it will require a simple Face ID scan. This will ensure that even if attackers obtain the passwords, they won’t be able to access the apps without scanning the user’s face.
• Enable Face ID or Touch ID to access the device, backed up with a strong password. This will keep the iPhone secure in case of loss or theft.
• Do not jailbreak the device, for the reasons mentioned above. Your iPhone would be less secure.
• Be wary of phishing. This means treating unsolicited calls, texts, emails, and social media messages with extreme caution. Do not click on links or open attachments. If you really need to do so, verify separately with the sender that the message is legitimate (i.e., not responding to the information contained in the message). Look for signs of social engineering, such as grammatical and spelling errors, an urgency to act, gifts and offers that are too good to be true, or domains (from the sender) that don’t match the supposed sender.
• Avoid public Wi-Fi networks. If you must use them, do so with a VPN. At the very least, don’t log into any valuable accounts or enter sensitive information on public Wi-Fi.
• Try to limit any downloads to the App Store to minimize the risk of downloading something malicious or risky.
• If you think you might be a target of spyware (often used against journalists, activists, and dissidents), activate blocking mode.
• Pay attention to the telltale signs of a malware infection, which could include slow performance, unwanted ad pop-ups, an overheating device, new apps appearing on the home screen, or increased data usage.

“While the Apple iPhone remains one of the most secure devices available, this doesn’t mean it’s free from threats. Staying alert, knowing the potential risks, and taking the necessary protective measures help keep your information and devices safe,” concludes Gutiérrez Amaya of ESET Latin America.

For more preventive information on cybersecurity, you can visit the ESET website: https://www.eset.com/ve/ and its social media channels @eset_ve. Also visit Instagram (@esetla) and Facebook (ESET). Or visit https://www.eset.com/latam.

With information and reference image provided by ESET and Comstat Rowland.

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La entrada How secure is your iPhone?: ESET analyzes, explains, and makes recommendations apareció primero en Bitfinance.