Brazil’s Cybercrime Epidemic: A Growing Threat

RIO DE JANEIRO - Brazil has become a hotspot for cybercriminals, with a surge in data breaches and ransomware attacks targeting major financial institutions, healthcare organizations, and other industries. The country’s federal cybersecurity agency reports that cybersecurity incidents hit record monthly highs in January and April of this year.

Latest Attack on Financial Co-operative System (Sicoob)

The latest attack on Sicoob is just one example of the growing threat. Hackers stole sensitive data from the organization’s database and are demanding a ransom to return it. This comes as no surprise, given Brazil’s massive online economy, which has made it a prime target for cybercriminals at home and abroad.

Stealer Software: A Growing Threat

“Today, data is gold,” says Daniela Dupuy, a cybercrime prosecutor and director of Argentina’s Observatory of Cybercrime and Digital Evidence for Criminal Investigations. “And Brazilian criminals are increasingly getting ahead of law enforcement in stealing that gold.”

Brazil is subject to more attacks involving stealer software than any other country in the world (according to SOCRadar)
Stealer software is designed to grab people’s login information and other credentials

Ransomware: A Threat to Businesses and Individuals

Another strategy used by cybercriminals is ransomware, which locks up an organization’s data with unbreakable encryption. Either the victims pay to restore their access or, as in Sicoob’s case, the data gets leaked.

Brazilian groups are increasingly using a combination of specialties, such as writing malware, building fake websites, and laundering money
Law enforcement has identified several groups based in Brazil, including UNC5176, which has primarily attacked financial institutions in Latin America and Spain

Challenges to Combating Cybercrime

The remote nature of cybercrimes allows criminal groups to reach victims from afar while law enforcement struggles to identify, locate, and arrest the perpetrators. The transnational nature of these crimes creates major jurisdictional and cooperative hurdles, demanding cooperation between law enforcement on different continents and from different government agencies speaking different languages.

Efforts to Combat Cybercrime

Brazil has made efforts to bolster its capacity against cybercrime in recent years, but it continues to lag behind many of its peers. Prevention is also a struggle, as stealer software often evades antivirus scans and relies on fooling victims into installing the malware.

Companies are increasingly investing in proactive testing of their cybersecurity defenses to seek out vulnerabilities before criminals find them
Cyber threats have become second only to climate change in risks backing businesses in Brazil, according to the Allianz Risk Barometer

Conclusion

As the cybercrime epidemic continues to spread, it is clear that Brazil must take a more proactive approach to addressing this growing threat.