Latin America. According to Kaspersky figures, between January and April of this year, cyber threats for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Latin America have increased. Mexico, Brazil and Colombia are the most affected countries, where the figures doubled and quadrupled the indicators of 2021.
The figures are quite high, as the attacks detected in Mexico went from 123,640 in 2021 to 323,434 in 2022; Brazil had recorded 88,432 assaults in 2021, a figure that reached 215,580 in 2022; meanwhile, Colombia went from 39,627 reported attacks in 2021 to 161,589 in 2022 and; for its part, Chile also had a considerable increase, from 17,069 attacks discovered in 2021 to 80,546 in 2022. These indicators imply an increase of 261%, 243%, 407% and 471%, respectively.
In that sense, these cyber threats, which focused their action on SMEs, in addition to their sharp increase, were characterized by being of three specific types: Internet attacks, attacks with the Trojan-PSW (Password Stealing Ware) and attacks on the Remote Desktop Protocol. All these attacks have in common the search for access to the corporate network and the commitment of the operation of the business, as well as its reputation.
Moreover, Kaspersky researchers discovered that, in Latin America, the use of the PSW Trojan, a password-stealing malware that allows cybercriminals to gain access to the corporate network and steal confidential information, has affected all countries in the region, but especially Mexico, Brazil and Colombia.
However, there were countries that were not so affected in this regard, such as Argentina that presented the lowest growth of all (21,659 in 2021 to 27,825 in 2022) and Peru that had a decrease in its figures, as it went from detecting 54,316 attacks in 2021 to 33,724 in 2022.
Regarding this situation, Daniela Álvarez de Lugo, general manager of North Latin America (NOLA) for Kaspersky, commented: "It is a myth to believe that, because they are small businesses, SMEs are not in the crosshairs of cybercrime. Our statistics from the first few months of 2022 show that they are also an easy target, especially if they are not protected. Therefore, it is urgent that enterprises consider cybersecurity as an indispensable element and seek a solution that guarantees them adequate and continuous protection."
Finally, Kaspersky recommends protecting SMEs with strategies such as identifying risks, constantly updating software and operating systems, training collaborators, making backups and, obviously, protecting your business with a cybersecurity solution tailored to you, which requires minimal management, but allows real protection against malware, ransomware and other attacks such as online fraud or scams.
