Social Media Faces Record Cyber Attacks in Late 2024

In the last few months of 2024, cyberattacks hit an all-time high. A report says 2.55 billion attacks were stopped, which means 321 attacks happened every second. That’s a lot of danger online!

In a video from Help Net Security, Luis Corrons, a cybersecurity expert from a company called Gen, talks about a new report. He explains that bad guys, called cybercriminals, are attacking people on social media more than ever. They’re using smart computer tricks, sneaky ads, and fake messages to trick users and cause trouble.

Here’s what’s happening:

Social Media Is Under Attack

• Facebook is the biggest target. More than half (56%) of all social media attacks happen there.
• YouTube comes next with 24% of the attacks.
• X gets 10%, and Reddit and Instagram each get 3%.
• Criminals are using fake ads (called malvertising), online shopping scams, and phishing (fake messages to steal info) to trick people. They especially went after shoppers during the busy holiday season in late 2024.

Telegram vs. WhatsApp

• Telegram, a messaging app, has 6 times more scams than WhatsApp, even though WhatsApp has more users. Criminals like Telegram because it’s harder for police or companies to catch them there.

Big Money Scams in 2024

The last part of 2024 had some huge scams that stole a lot of money:

• Deepfake Crypto Scam: Around the election time, hackers took over YouTube accounts. They used fake videos made by computers, pretending to be famous people like Elon Musk, to trick people into giving away $7 million in cryptocurrency (a type of digital money). This was the biggest scam payout of the year.
• Mobile Banking Trojans: These are harmful apps that pretend to be safe things like dating apps or brands like Visa and Chrome. They sneak onto your phone and steal your bank info.
• Spyware Apps: These sneaky apps got into official app stores. They spy on people, steal private info, and even threaten to share it unless victims pay money.

What Does This Mean?

Cybercriminals are getting smarter and using new tools, like artificial intelligence (AI), to attack people online. Social media, shopping, and even your phone apps aren’t as safe as they used to be. The report shows we all need to be extra careful when we’re online, especially on sites like Facebook or apps like Telegram.