Smartphone apps that are designed to improve the productivity and efficiency of users are believed to be the prime target for cybercriminals now. Chief among them are WhatsApp and Paytm.
According to a report published by DNA, the Cyber Crime Police Station (CCPS) at Bandra-Kurla Complex (BKC) has been registering endless cases of fraud wherein the accounts of WhatsApp and Paytm users are being hacked. The hackers would apparently reach out to the contact list of the victim and ask them to transfer funds to their Paytm account to meet their urgent needs.
CNBC earlier this month published a report which suggested that cloud-connected apps are presently at a security risk especially given how an increasing number of businesses are taking to these apps to conduct their activities. Cybercriminals have managed to gain extensive access to the data exchanged on these apps.
Cisco released their 10th annual report on global cyber security issues late last month which essential highlighted the problem caused by apps being used by employees to improve their productivity in the workplace. The report sampled 900 organisations and identified 222,000 third-party applications being used by employees. Of these apps, 27 per cent were classified as high risk.
According to the DNA report, the police over the past month have received about 100 complaints with a similar trend. Most victims that face this problem don’t approach the police because the scam isn’t big enough for them to notice, the report read.
