[Asia Economy Reporter Seungjin Lee] As voice phishing using malicious codes or impersonating courier companies becomes rampant during holidays, AhnLab has announced security guidelines to prevent such incidents.
On the 11th, AhnLab listed the three major Chuseok security rules as ▲ Do not install apps (.apk) received via text messages or messengers ▲ Always verify urgent requests from children or family members by phone call even if received via text ▲ Use official channels for downloading internet content.
According to AhnLab, attackers send text messages with everyday topics related to the holiday season, such as low-interest loans, government subsidies, or undelivered parcels, including phone numbers or messenger IDs to induce users to contact them.
When users contact the phone numbers or IDs in the text messages, the attackers respond with various excuses and send malicious app installation files (.apk) disguised as financial apps, urging users to install them. If users unknowingly install the malicious apps, not only is the information on their phones leaked, but even if they try to call legitimate numbers of the police or financial institutions, the calls are intercepted and redirected to the attackers, blocking reports or verifications and enabling voice phishing scams.
There are also many crimes targeting the elderly who are waiting for contact from their children during the holidays. Attackers exploit this situation by impersonating children and sending urgent messages via text or messenger, such as "I lost my phone" or "The screen is broken." Then, the attackers naturally induce the purchase of cultural gift certificates and sending serial numbers, request photos of identification cards, or installation of malicious apps disguised as legitimate apps.
Installing malicious apps leads to theft of various information stored on the phone, which can be exploited to cause financial losses or secondary damages such as additional voice phishing attacks. Since parents may find it difficult to make proper judgments when receiving urgent deposit requests from children or family members, it is advised to always call the sender directly to verify the facts in such cases.
There are also attacks targeting the elderly who have recently increased their internet usage. Attackers exploit search keywords that middle-aged and elderly people are interested in to distribute malicious code files, so caution is necessary.
In fact, last year, AhnLab’s analysis of the ‘BlueCrab ransomware trend’ showed that attackers created fake sites using popular trot singers and song titles, including ‘Trot Medley.mp3,’ which is favored by the elderly, to distribute ransomware. Recently, attacks have also been found where videos explaining how to download various files are uploaded on YouTube, and malicious URLs linking to malware download pages are included in the video descriptions. Therefore, elderly people who frequently use YouTube should be especially careful.
When using PCs, parents should be guided to download music, movies, and other content only through official channels to prevent malware infection. Also, antivirus software should be updated to the latest version and real-time monitoring functions should be enabled to prepare against malware infections.
Park Taehwan, head of the AhnLab Cybersecurity Center (ACSC) response team, said, “With the increase in digital device usage among the elderly, they are exposed to various cyberattacks such as voice phishing, smishing, and ransomware infections using malicious codes. Especially during holidays, cyberattacks targeting parents waiting for family contact or elderly people trying to download internet content can become rampant, so children’s special attention is essential.”
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