Financial gains and not fame driving hackers: Symantec report |
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Mon, 19 Sep 2005 19:05
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The Symantec Internet Security Report has said that the number of new Win32 viruses and worms doing the rounds over the Internet in the first half of 2005 has increased by 142 per cent to 11,000 as against the same period in 2004.
The report also found that more and more hackers are now attacking computers for profits and the instances of identity thefts, frauds and extortion have gone up. Around 75 per cent of the top 50 malicious codes were written for getting personal data. This figure was much higher than the 54 per cent posted in first half of 2004.
Symantec security expert Vincent Weafer said earlier hackers used viruses to gain global fame but now financial gains have taken over as the main driver for writing malicious codes. “We are seeing a very significant change where we are seeing far fewer large pandemics. However we are seeing a large volume increase in cyber-attacks, viruses and variants,” he said.
Hackers are bypassing improved anti-virus programs by creating smaller worms and viruses that take over individual computers. Attacks on machines using the MS Windows platform posted an increase of 48 per cent in the first half of the year to 10,866.
“This massive increase in variants is important because each variant represents a new, distinct threat against which administrators must protect their systems and for which antivirus vendors must create a new antivirus definition. This trend is also important because is signifies a shift away from broadly disseminated threats, such as mall-mailing worms, and towards malicious code that is modular and customizable,” said the report, which was released today.
More and more attackers were taking the Web browser route as most companies have made their operating systems strong with patches and better software. Around eight of the top ten adware programs and six of the top ten spyware programs were found to be taking the Web browsers route, the report said.
Also, the number of bots, which are programs that install themselves in a computer without the user's knowledge and give unauthorized access to the hacker, went up to an average of 10,352 bots a day, a 138 per cent hike from the 4,348 a day that was registered in the second half of 2004.
“We see 44 per cent of attacks…originating from the UK. The significant finding from this report is a move away from threats issued on a wider scale, towards targeted threats on specific computers for the purposes of theft of financial data. Regional users need to ensure that they are taking the right precautions when using the World Wide Web for shopping or banking, such as ensuring a site is secure before entering credit card details. Although our region may not be a source of threats, the Internet has no boundaries and everyone is equally at risk,” said Kevin Isaac, who heads Symantec’s Middle East North Africa operations.
The number of phishing message, which try to lure the email receiver into giving his or her financial details, grew to 5.70 million messages a day from 2.99 million in the second half of 2004. “What we are saying is that attackers are increasingly targeting your assets and your private information,” Weafer said.
“As financial rewards increase, attackers will likely develop more sophisticated and stealthier malicious code that will attempt to disable antivirus, firewalls, and other security concerns,” the report added.
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