The global economic crisis is bringing more criminals online. In its Annual Global Threat Report, ScanSafe noted that the growth in malware through 2008 was “explosive.” The report was based on an analysis of more than 240 billion Web requests processed by the ScanSafe Threat Center on behalf of the company’s corporate customers in more than 80 countries. It represents the world’s largest security analysis of real-time traffic.
ScanSafe found that there was an overwhelming 582 percent growth between like quarters in 2007 and 2008 and a 300 percent volume ratio increase from January 2008 through December 2008. Exploits and iframes were up 1731 percent in 2008, while data-theft Trojans increased 1559 percent.
“We saw a continued acceleration of Web-delivered malware in 2008. The numbers are staggering,” said Mary Landesman, senior security researcher, ScanSafe. “There is a high correlation of increased online crime with the decline in the global economy. It could be that the increasing levels of job loss and uncertainty are fueling the surge in criminal activity. It is also likely that cyber crime is proving to be a viable business opportunity in a climate where legitimate opportunities are becoming increasingly more limited.”
According to the report, the Internet is now a massive front for data harvesting. In 2008, cyber criminals demonstrated a change of intent and are now focused on the ongoing targeting and harvesting of sensitive data. Most of the malware delivered through the Web provides remote customization and configurability, enabling criminal attackers to target specific data and to remotely manage how that data is obtained. For home users, gaming credentials or credit card numbers could be at risk. For enterprises, there is the possibility of intellectual property theft and the potential to eavesdrop on all network transmissions.
Cyber criminals are becoming more inventive and professional. PandaLabs has observed how cyber-criminals are starting to use their own search engines to lead users to malicious pages, often created for distributing malware. One such malicious search engine, detected by PandaLabs, has already received around 195,000 visits.
To avoid falling victim to these attacks, PandaLabs advises users to enter the Web address of a known search engine into the Web browser rather than clicking through from a link on another page. If a website requests to download the latest version of a “Web media player” in order to watch a video clip or tries to download any other program in order to use content from the site, close the browser immediately. The file download would actually be the malicious code. Be aware that as a result of the continuing compromise of legitimate websites, any site could pose a danger.
If you are concerned that you may have already engaged in Web behavior that may have compromised you computer, consult the information available through McAfee’s new free Cyber Crime Response Unit: www.mcafee.com/cru.
