OREANDA-NEWS  Russian companies are suffering reputational and financial losses due to a new type of hacker attacks. This is reported by the company-developer of solutions for protection against cyberattacks Servicepipe.

Online retailers, banks, online pharmacies, marketplaces and a number of other organizations have already become victims. Experts said that attackers create malicious bots that attack websites and mobile applications. Using user data that is publicly available, bots generate a lot of requests on the attacked resource. For example, for registration or authorization by phone number.

When sending a request to the specified number, an SMS with a confirmation code is sent. Messages can also be sent to databases of random numbers whose owners are not registered on the attacked resource.

This scheme is directed against companies, but primarily affects users of their customers who mistakenly believe that they are under attack. Users who have received such SMS messages believe that the account has been hacked, and personal data has "leaked" to fraudsters.

The recipients of the mailing list often start calling the support service, which leads to an overload of call centers whose task is to confirm the actions of users on the site. The problem becomes bigger if the organization uses the services of outsourcing call centers. In most cases, their services are charged according to the number of calls. Thus, by the time the problem is discovered, losses can range from tens of thousands to several million rubles.

Earlier, Vyacheslav Cheglov, professor of the Basic Department of Trade Policy at Plekhanov Russian University of Economics, listed products that should be bought with extreme caution on marketplaces.