Because of the amount of data that can be obtained and the high impact that successful attacks may have, educational institutions are frequent targets of cybercriminals. Both public and private schools and universities rely on software for managing personally identifiable information (PII) that is often insecure or insufficiently tested against known vulnerabilities. In addition, machines used by multiple people without accountability can be vulnerable to insider threats.
The complexity of academic environments amplifies this risk. Unlike corporate networks, educational institutions have to provide a network that supports students, professors, researchers, administrative staff, third-party contractors, and visitors. Each of these groups has different security requirements and access control levels, making it difficult to enforce consistent security policies. A security breach can have severe consequences since it may expose vast amounts of sensitive information, such as social security numbers (CPF in Brazil), addresses, phone numbers, and even parents’ names. Armed with this information, attackers can attempt phishing attacks and impersonate the victims in SIM swapping attacks, a common practice in Brazil.
Read more…
Source: Kaspersky
Sign up for the Cyber Security Review Newsletter
The latest cyber security news and insights delivered right to your inbox
Related:
- Outlaw cybergang attacking targets worldwide
April 29, 2025
In a recent incident response case in Brazil, we dealt with a relatively simple, yet very effective threat focused on Linux environments. Outlaw (also known as “Dota”) is a Perl-based crypto mining botnet that typically takes advantage of weak or default SSH credentials for its operations. Previous research described Outlaw samples obtained from honeypots. In this ...
- Coyote Banking Trojan: A Stealthy Attack via LNK Files
January 30, 2025
Over the past month, FortiGuard Labs has identified several similar LNK files containing PowerShell commands designed to execute malicious scripts and connect to remote servers. These files are part of multi-stage operations that ultimately deliver the Coyote Banking Trojan. This malware primarily targets users in Brazil, seeking to harvest sensitive information from over 70 financial applications ...
- Grandoreiro, the global trojan with grandiose goals
October 22, 2024
Grandoreiro is a well-known Brazilian banking trojan — part of the Tetrade umbrella — that enables threat actors to perform fraudulent banking operations by using the victim’s computer to bypass the security measures of banking institutions. It’s been active since at least 2016 and is now one of the most widespread banking trojans globally. INTERPOL and ...
- Starlink’s local bank accounts are frozen as X prepares to be shut down in Brazil
August 30, 2024
A judge in Brazil has blocked Starlink’s bank accounts in the country amid a deepening dispute with X. The move comes as the same Supreme Court judge has threatened to shut down X in the country, and is a direct response to the ongoing legal battle with the social media company, Reuters reported. X owner Elon ...
- X suspends business in Brazil over censorship row
August 17, 2024
X, formerly known as Twitter, has closed its office in Brazil over a censorship row. The social media platform said a Brazilian Supreme Court judge, Alexandre de Moraes, threatened its legal representative in Brazil with arrest if it did not comply with his “censorship orders”. Brazil’s Supreme Court has not commented. People in Brazil are still ...
- Insights on Cyber Threats Targeting Users and Enterprises in Brazil
July 12, 2024
Individuals and organizations in Brazil face a unique cyber threat landscape because it is a complex interplay of global and local threats, posing significant risks to individuals, organizations, and critical sectors of Brazilian society. Many of the cyber espionage threat actors that are prolific in campaigns across the globe are also active in carrying out attempted ...