‘Inception’ malware to target UK

Advanced malware known as Inception employs phishing emails in order to swipe data before uploading it to the cloud. Now, the malware – in making its way around the world – could soon be targeting UK businesses.

The virus, which earned its nickname from the synonymous Christopher Nolan movie thanks to a multi-layered model, was found by security research professionals.

The software travels around 60 mobile networks and has now morphed into a mobilecentric form, targeting Blackberry, Android and iOS devices. It infects devices through phishing emails, found in MMS messages and Trojan documents.

Simon Beattie, from UK penetration scanning and testing firm RandomStorm, said that once the files have been run, recorded telephone calls or captured data are transferred to the perpetrators so that they are then able to perform a far more targeted attack.

KPMG’s director, Jim Fox, told SCMagazineUK.com:

“The same methods will work perfectly in the UK ecosystem. People create malware and they go where the most interesting things are. They look for a major economy, and information – whether government or business – and the UK has this.

“Because of how widespread this has been so far, it seems that they are casting the net really wide.”

UK firms need to be on their guard, not only when it comes to the Inception malware, but also other viruses that may be on their way here. They would be making a smart move by re-evaluating their IT security recruitment policy and giving that department the attention it needs – both right now and in the future.