October has come to an end, and it was sure filled with its fair share of spooks and scares. But fear not! Our monthly digest is here to shine some light on the recent events in telco and business messaging.
TangleBot uses Covid scares as means to lure in users
The latest cunning malware, TangleBot, leverages the audience’s fears to attack user’s devices, reports Cloudmark. TangleBot uses COVID-19 lures to trick its victims into clicking on a link in an SMS.
Users who click on the link are informed that the Adobe Flash player on their device must be updated, and if the user follows the prompts, the malware is installed on their Android device, gaining access to their sensitive data. Attacks are currently limited to the USA and Canada, but it could target other countries soon.
A flaw in SMS 2FA results in a loss of cryptocurrency for 6000 users
Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase has reported that a fault in its implementation of SMS-based authentication led to the loss of funds for at least 6,000 users accounts. Coinbase said that the criminals possessed the email addresses, passwords, and phone numbers associated with victims‘ accounts.
While usually, two-factor authentication methods can stop fraudsters from accessing an account even if they have the credentials, a flaw in Coinbase‘s SMS-based authentication meant that they could bypass this extra line of defence.
If you want to learn more about the ways you can protect your audience with multi-factor authentication, make sure to check out our article.
Facebook outage prompts a massive surge in SMS messaging volumes
Mobile operator Three UK has reported that October 4’s 6-hour Facebook outage, which also impacted associated internet services from WhatsApp, Oculus and Instagram, caused a huge surge in SMS and MMS traffic — more than the last three New Year’s Eves combined.
This demonstrates how reliable a channel SMS really is: the volumes of SMS business messaging have remained relatively high even weeks after the service interruption. If you want to learn more about the ways your business can function during service outages, make sure to check out our recent article.
MEF shares a fresh perspective on global business messaging
Ever since the pandemic started, A2P and P2A traffic volumes have grown significantly. Now, when we have seemingly adjusted to a new normal, it is time to have a closer look at the adoption of SMS and OTTs as avenues for personal and business communications in these new conditions. And, fortunately, our friends at MEF have recently released an SMS and OTT messaging report!
According to the study, WhatsApp dominates global business messaging, with SMS remaining a close second. While the use of WhatsApp increases with income group and is prevalent among the mid-aged audience, SMS is used to message businesses irrespective of household income or users‘ age group.