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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 3 of 4 The Zlob Trojan, is number four on the Australian chart for malicious code samples. What nastiness does it bestow on the unsuspecting user? Featured Whitepaper
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Number eight on the Australian chart is the “Adclicker Trojan” which drives traffic to Web pages and banner advertisements. Banner advertisements compensate the owner of the Web site they are hosted on for each view or click through. Generating fraudulent traffic to these advertisements is commonly referred to as click fraud – a clear reason for malware writers to take advantage of it. Next up are file sharing/executables which were “the top rated malicious code propagation vectors with 37 percent in Australia, a 22 percent increase on the previous reporting period. File sharing/executables jumped from tenth position in first half of 2007 to first position in the second half of 2007”. But it’s not just the web that is an attack vector. Removable media, such as USB flash memory sticks, amongst other forms, is hosting “shared executable files” as the “propagation mechanism employed by viruses and some worms that copy themselves to removable media.” Symantec points out that this vector “lost popularity among malicious code authors when the use of floppy disks declined and attackers instead concentrated on other more widely used file transfer mechanisms such as email and shared network drives.” Why? Because as use of “removable drives has become more widespread, attackers have again begun to employ this propagation technique. Although current removable drives differ from floppy disks, the principle remains the same, enabling attackers to make simple modifications to old propagation techniques.” Other malicious code propagation vectors in Australia include file transfer/email attachments at 31 percent, a 27 percent decrease from the previous reporting period as well as file transfer/SMB and remotely exploitable vulnerabilities both at 23 percent. During this period Symantec have also seen a “diversification of malicious code vectors, and while email attachments have decreased, they still remain to be an attractive propagation mechanism for malicious code because of the pervasive use of email.” Malicious code types for Australia include Trojans at 58 percent, worms at 27 percent, backdoors at eight percent and viruses at six percent. So, why are hackers finding social networking sites such an abundance of low-hanging fruit to rabidly bit into? Please read onto page 4. |
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