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Information Technology News Symantec’s latest security report: web attacks getting much worse
Information Technology News Symantec’s latest security report: web attacks getting much worse | Symantec’s latest security report: web attacks getting much worse |
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| by Alex Zaharov-Reutt | |
| Thursday, 10 April 2008 | |
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Page 1 of 4   
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The report says that “the Web is now the primary conduit of attack activity, as opposed to network attacks, and that online users can increasingly be infected simply by visiting everyday Web sites”, and was derived from data collected by millions of Internet sensors, first-hand research and active monitoring of hacker communications, providing a global view of the state of Internet security. Key findings include 711,912 new threats in 2007 compared to 125,243 in 2006 – an increase of 468 percent, bringing the total number of malicious code threats detected by Symantec to 1,122,311 as of the end of 2007! Another key finding that is quite astounding sees Symantec noticing that, for the first time, malicious software outpaced legitimate applications during the reporting period, with 65 percent of the 54,609 unique applications released to the public able to be categorised as malicious. Another finding sees the theft or loss of a computer or other device making up 57 percent of all data breaches during the last half of 2007 and accounted for 46 percent of all reported breaches in the previous reporting period. Worryingly for government, it was the top industry sector for identities exposed, accounting for 60 percent of the total, an increase from 12 percent in the previous reporting period. Stephen Trilling, vice president, Symantec Security Technology and Response said that: “Avoiding the dark alleys of the Internet was sufficient advice in years past. Today's criminal is focused on compromising legitimate Web sites to launch attacks on end-users, which underscores the importance of maintaining a strong security posture no matter where you go and what you do on the Internet.” While Symantec’s report contains lots of global information, they have pinpointed some shocking local information. Australians saw plenty of online hack attacks, with an average of 429 active bots per day during the last half of 2007 (July - December 2007) – an increase of 5.6 percent from the first half of 2007. During the period, there were 40,739 distinct bot-infected computers in Australia – and there are probably even more now. So, what other Australia-specific information on the prevalence of massive malware and hacker activity has been reported down under? Please read onto page 2. |
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