Malware attacks nearly double

Pro

23 January 2006

Meanwhile, others warned IT managers that new communication tools such as instant messaging and blogs will expose their firms to new types of attack.

Nearly two-thirds of all attacks in 2005 used trojans, according to Sophos’ Security Threat Management Report, published last week. The company’s senior technology consultant, Graham Cluley, said this development is due to an increase in criminal gangs writing malware for financial gain.

“A worm affects too many people,” said Cluley. “Criminals don’t want to use mass-mailing schemes since it brings attention. It’s easier to affect 200 users rather than 200,000 users, and then get money or financial information from these.”

Cluley added that gangs of crooks are trying to steal information from organisations by writing more customised and targeted phishing and trojan attacks.

Sophos also reported that over 40% of new malware can allow hackers to access users’ computers, to turn the machines into so-called “zombies”, which can then be used to send spam with trojans to other computers.

In addition to deploying antivirus defences and firewalls, Cluley said companies should tighten security policies at the gateway, channelling all traffic through the IT department so that enterprise users are not exposed to malware or inappropriate content.

“For 2006 [you] can expect more of the same – a lot of zombie networks being exploited, and more targeted attacks as hackers find further revenue streams into organisations,” Cluley said.

Eldar Tuvey, chief executive of web security specialist Scansafe, predicted that as instant messaging and other new types of communication systems become more popular and current avenues of attack are closed, the threats will change. “As the easiest targets get more secure, the criminals go to the less secure ones,” he said. “As [technology like] RSS, blogs and messaging spread, the security threats will follow through onto those tools.”

Andy Kellett of analyst firm Butler Group said that companies should adopt a “protect and inform” approach to security management, by deploying protective systems while also addressing their existing vulnerabilities.

Meanwhile, in other news, mail security firm Ciphertrust said last week it found an average of 170,000 new infected zombie computers each day in the second half of 2005.

Read More:


Back to Top ↑

TechCentral.ie