Cybercriminals target Rio Olympics

Number of malicious URLs set up in Brazil rises 83 per cent in June - more than five times the global rate

Cybercriminals have ramped up their activity in Brazil ahead of tonight's Olympics opening ceremony.

Threat data gathered by Fortinet shows that Brazil's growth in malicious URLs was 83 per cent in June, compared with 16 per cent globally.

The security firm also detected over 3,800 malicious websites and URLs with the government-designated '.gov.br' domain name, thought to be a way of targeting government and Olympics officials.

The country's growth in cyberthreats was higher than global growth in three of the four categories measured by Fortinet - malicious domains, malicious URLs, phishing domains and phishing URLs.

Brazil saw 79 per cent growth in phishing domains, compared with 74 per cent growth worldwide; and 12 per cent growth in phishing URLs compared with one per cent globally.

The Fortinet report claims that the increased threat in Brazil, coupled with a lack of focus on cybersecurity from businesses in the country, means there is a greater risk there than at similar events such as the London 2012 Olympics.

The report cites data from the World Economic Forum which claims that cyberthreats are not a high priority in the country, meaning security breaches are more likely than at the London Olympics where 165 million "security events" resulted in just 97 "actual security incidents".

A separate report from IBM on the cyberthreat in Brazil claims that "the Brazilian cybercrime arena is a leader in internet fraud".

It goes on to claim that low security awareness among Brazil's large population is an aggravating factor that "enterprising cybercriminals" in the country are likely to take advantage of during the Olympics.