By RARZACK OLAEGBE
Arsenal defeated Real Madrid on tactics. During the quarterfinal stage of the Champions League, Arsenal won via effective tactics. Tactics can win a football match. Or lose it. If a manager employs poor tactics, the match will certainly be lost. In football, tactics involve the planning and execution of actions to gain an advantage over the opponent. Effective strategies revolve around team formation, style of play, to individual actions. For instance, Arsenal beat Real Madrid because Mikel Arteta, Arsenal manager, deployed better tactics. He relied on positioning. Pressing. Set pieces. And individual strength.
On the one hand
The cyber thieves, too have shifted their tactics. The Kaspersky report has said the thieves are relying on attacking your banking credentials by sending unwanted software updates. The report informed that more than 33.3 million attacks occurred in 2024 globally. The targets are smartphone users.
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On the other hand
The report stated that Android smartphones suffered the most, with 420,000 attacks in 2023 to 1,242,000 in 2024. The banker attack is designed to steal user credentials for online banking, e-payment services, and credit card systems. The mobile malware threat landscape in 2024 report was released at Mobile World Congress 2025 in Barcelona recently. To catch the unaware smartphone users, the cyber thieves trick victims into downloading unwanted software by spreading links via SMS. Or messaging apps. Malicious attachments in messengers. And by directing users to cruel webpages.
In the long term
In 2024, Fakemoney – a group of fake apps that promote fake investments and payouts – was the most active threat. Another major concern was modified versions of WhatsApp. This contained was unwanted software that can download and execute additional malicious or adware modules. For example, it can display advertisements. Or perform other unwanted actions on your smartphone. This fake WhatsApp platform is a cloud-based generic threat.
A techie friend suffered a cyberattack this week. Her WhatsApp platform was hacked. Her identity stolen. Her banking credentials are gone. Her work documents are gone. She contacted the Meta owners of the WhatsApp platform. The matter will be resolved. But the deed is done. The damage is done. The road to recovery will be long and tortuous for her. How did she get into the mess?
The cyber thieves often exploit trending news and hype topics. For this, the thieves create a sense of urgency.
The cyber thieves sent her a message. They made the fraudulent message look trustworthy. Then asked her to verify her two-factor authentication. She obeyed. That was the last time she gained access to her WhatsApp platform. That is an instance.
Here is another trend. The cyber thieves often exploit trending news and hype topics. For this, the thieves create a sense of urgency. Then lower the victims’ guard. In 2024, for instance, cybercriminals launched an average of 2.8 million unwanted software attacks on mobile devices every month. The thieves have gone into overdrive. They have shifted their tactics. They are desperate to capture as many unsuspecting, innocent smartphone users as possible. Be on the lookout.
“Scammers have started to scale down their efforts to create unique malware packages. They focus on distributing the same files to as many victims as possible. It is important to be cyber-literate. Educate your loved ones. No one is completely safe from well-crafted scams and psychological tricks designed to steal banking data,” Anton Kivva, a security expert at Kaspersky, said.
In the short term
What are your tactics against the cyber thieves? If you are a Real Madrid fan, you are on your own.
*Olaegbe ([email protected])
