Security researchers from Commtouch Security calculated how long it takes hackers to exploit an event that is published in the media. Over the past three months, the average time between the event being published and hackers exploiting it was about 22 hours.
Breaking news is often exploited by cybercriminals to distribute malware. We’ve seen malicious campaigns exploit the Boston Marathon bombings, the NSA leaks, the recent conflicts in Syria, and even the election of the new Pope.
Experts have noticed that in recent months, the average time to start distributing malware using a breaking news story has started to decrease.
For example, the news of the Pope's election in March was exploited 55 hours after the event was made public. The Boston bombings in April were exploited after 27 hours.
More recent events such as the birth of the royal baby, Edward Snowden, and Syria were exploited even more quickly.
