Russian finance companies, small and medium-sized enterprises faced large-scale phishing attacks in the second half of 2019, the deputy chairman of the executive board of Russian's largest bank, Stanislav Kuznetsov told Sputnik on Tuesday on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos
DAVOS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 21st January, 2020) Russian finance companies, small and medium-sized enterprises faced large-scale phishing attacks in the second half of 2019, the deputy chairman of the executive board of Russian's largest bank, Stanislav Kuznetsov told Sputnik on Tuesday on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos.
"We expected their [phishing attacks'] number to grow, and, unfortunately, this happened. Last year, several organized criminal groups that do this energized. One of them made a big 'step forward' in expanding its crime activities � the RTM group. They speak Russian, work in Eastern Europe, including Russia," Kuznetsov said.
According to Sberbank deputy chairman, the group was sending phishing letter to tens of thousands of companies in Russia about 10 or 15 times a month.
"Many companies swallow the bait, open letters and immediately get infected. Criminals then get access to accounting documents, they use the virus to transfer the company's money to their own accounts and then extract gradually," Kuznetsov said.
According to him, the law enforcement has been briefed on these crimes.
"There are fewer than five groups of this kinds, but this one is the brashest and the largest. I really hope that it will be dealt with in the foreseeable future," Kuznetsov said.
Phishing is not a new type of crime, but Russia had never experienced it to such an extent before the second half of 2019, Kuznetsov said.
