AVG sets up research centre as social network attacks rise

Peter Dinham
Tuesday, 28 April 2009 10:19

Business IT - Technology

Security firm, AVG has set up a new international research centre in Brno in the Czech Republic, which the security firm claims will enhance its discovery of new strains of computer threats and “prevent their spread across the Internet.”

According to AVG, researchers at its new centre, named Malware TRAP Centrum (M-TRAP – Malware Trending, Reporting, Analysis, and Prevalence) – will run the malware under quarantine conditions and obtain the data via its 80 million users around the world. It says researchers will gather and analyse information on malware and how it spreads across the Internet, while observing behaviour and speeds and allowing them to create a cure against the malware.

Karel Obluk, CTO of AVG and the initiator of the project, says researchers are now seeing a rise in malware targeting social networking sites and the company will be using the research results produced by M-TRAP to “develop new technologies for the ongoing and effective fight against these computer threats”.

According to Obluk, social networking tools are increasingly opening Internet users up to risk of attack by malware, and the new research centre will enhance the discovery of new strains of computer threats and “prevent their spread across the Internet.”

“It is much easier to inadvertently spread worms to our friends’ PCs than ever before.  However, it’s not just social networking sites that are at risk – our computer peripherals are being targeted too.”

Obluk says AVG researchers have identified a cyber espionage network, dubbed Ghostnet, which he says is capable of taking full control of infected computers - including searching and downloading specific files and operating attached devices like microphones and web-cameras.
 
“It is now more important than ever to be searching for these threats before they become a big problem,” Obluk warns.

AVG says its new research centre is staffed by a team of five IT professionals and is run in conjunction with the Faculty of Information Technologies (FIT) of Brno University of Technology.

Obluk says the partnership will enable students to work in the labs to gain work experience and the  research centre will provide undergraduate and graduate students with the opportunity to take part in its research activities.

AVG says the new centre at Brno is one of three research facilities for dedicated to discovering malicious codes.