Cloudmark Warns Of "Mash-up" Attacks

Cloudmark, which provides carrier-grade messaging security, has warned of increased risk for converged operators from the online attacker community and urged service providers to review their security strategies to counteract the growing prevalence of attacks across multiple media, including mobile.
Cloudmark has observed online attackers using new, advanced threat techniques that combine attributes of spam, phishing and malware into a single attack, which is then distributed across a variety of media. These “converged threats” look for coverage gaps in traditional security solutions that are designed for a specific type of attack, such as a spam or virus outbreak over a specific medium like email.  However, because these new, “mash-up” type of attacks blend elements of spam, phishing and/or viruses into a single attack that is unleashed simultaneously across e-mail, mobile, web and social networks, they evade traditional security solutions. 
In order to combat the threat, Cloudmark is strongly advising service providers to look for security platforms that are threat-agnostic and able to automatically identify and stop attacks across multiple platforms.
As part of Cloudmark’s continual analysis of global threats, it has identified several examples of these “converged” attacks. These include ‘Smishing’, a recent trend in mobile phishing attacks which usually involves the use of VoIP phone number accounts obtained through e-mail phishing attacks as the call to action; modern e-mail viruses, which do not distribute viruses as an attachment, but instead, host the virus on a website and distribute emails that link to the website; and ‘Crush’ attacks. In one such recent attack distributed via SMS, email and social network communications, users were enticed to login to a webpage and unknowingly opt in to a premium-rate SMS service through their mobile operator.
“Convergence is everywhere, including in the online attacker community,” says Neil Cook, Head of Technology Services EMEA at Cloudmark. “To combat today’s threats, the only truly effective security solution is one that can stop all forms of abuse, from spam, phishing and viruses to advanced ‘converged’ attacks, across all media, from e-mail and mobile messaging to social networking sites. Only by sealing all potential gaps can service providers deploy new converged services with the confidence of knowing that both the platforms and subscribers are protected against today’s known abuses and tomorrow’s advanced threats.”