Education Sector a Top Target for Mobile Malware Attacks — Campus Technology

Education Sector a Top Target for Mobile Malware Attacks

Mobile and IoT/OT cyber threats continue to grow in number and complexity, becoming more targeted and sophisticated, according to a new report from Zscaler. Across sectors, the cybersecurity company’s annual ThreatLabz report documented 29% and 111% growth in mobile backing malware and mobile spyware attacks, respectively, as well as 45% year-over-year growth in blocked IoT malware transactions. The report is based on data from the Zscaler Security Cloud between June 2023 and May 2024, comprising more than 20 billion threat-related mobile transactions and associated cyberthreats, the company said.

The most frequent targets of mobile malware, the report found, were the technology (18%), education (18%) and manufacturing (14%) sectors. In fact, education saw a 136% increase in blocked mobile malware transactions compared to the previous year, an area where most other sectors experienced a general decline.

As for attacks on IoT devices, routers were by far the most targeted device type, drawing 66% of attacks. Education organizations were the victims of just 2% of overall IoT malware attacks, compared to 37% in manufacturing and 14% in the transportation sector, according to the report.  

The report also offered a number of predictions for the coming year:

• IoT and OT devices will remain primary threat vectors.
• Manufacturing will remain a top target for IoT attacks, including ransomware.
• AI will increasingly be used to create believable phishing campaigns targeting mobile users.
• Zero trust device segmentation will become a top security priority for IoT and OT systems, starting with critical infrastructure.
• AI will play a critical role for IoT and OT defenders.
• Private 5G ecosystems with zero trust will become a key strategy for IoT and OT connectivity.
• The trend of security platform consolidation will extend to IoT and OT environments.

The full report is available on the Zscaler site (registration required).