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How cybercriminals use popular TV shows to spread malware

CONTENTS

* Introduction
* Methodology and key findings
* General Overview: malware is coming
*The M-files: most often infected series
* Threat Anatomy: attack vectors and types of threats
* The most widespread threat: Trojans
* Not-a-virus rounds up the top three
* Danger Things: how to stay safe

Introduction

While the way we consume TV content is rapidly changing, the content itself remains in high demand, and users resort to any means available to get at it – including illegal and non-ethical ones like the use of pirated stuff. The world is embracing the idea of paying for entertainment more and more with the development of paid subscription networks like Netflix or Apple Music. Yet many countries are still fighting the battle against illegally distributed content. In December 2018, Australia’s Federal Court issued an injunction requiring local internet providers to block 181 pirate domains linked to 78 websites full of files infringing copyright regulations. At the beginning of 2019, Brazil’s Ministry of Justice brought on board the Federal Police of Brazil (Polícia Federal) to launch an anti-piracy operation targeting the illegal distribution of music, movies and TV shows. These are just two of the many initiatives introduced both by governments and the private sector all over the world to combat the problem.

However, despite these measures, copyright-infringing content is still readily available. According to the latest Annual Piracy Report by Muso – a global technology company providing anti-piracy, market analytics and audience connection solutions – the numbers of pirated content consumers are growing. The company registered more than 300 billion visits to pirate websites in 2017 alone. An 1.6% increase from 2016 and an international trend: the US supplied the greatest number of pirate website visitors with 27.9 billion visits per year, followed by Russia, 20.6 billion (a 46% increase from 2016), and India, whose residents visited pirate websites 17 billion times. A major share of pirated content still comes from downloadable files: a 2019 WebKontrol report claims that torrent websites are still leading in Russia in terms of volume of pirated content, followed by file-hosting and streaming services. Moreover, the share of links to illegal content posted on torrent websites grew 14% from 2018 (38% from 24%), overtaking streaming websites.