Sophos' Security Threat Report 2007 examines recent malware developments and looks into how internet criminals are adapting their activities to maximise virus impact on unsuspecting users.
Websites
USA continues to top the list as the country hosting the highest number of malware containing websites:
Carole Theriault, Sophos' senior security consultant maintains that security measures are still inadequate in the US and its web hosting companies must “ensure that malicious code is quickly removed before innocent users get hit”.
Sophos predict that 2007 will see a decline in email security threats and an increase in web-based infection. It is therefore imperative that organisations remain diligent:
“The internet now represents the easiest way for cyber criminals to gain entry to corporate networks, as more users are accessing unregulated sites, downloading applications and streaming audio/video, potentially jeopardising security in the process. A great many businesses aren't geared up to gain insight into users' online behaviour, let alone control it, and it's vital that they now begin to examine ways to incorporate web security into their overall IT strategy.”
Spam
USA is also the worst nation for spam-relaying activities - 22 per cent of all spam sent in 2006 came from US computers.
Virtually all spam (90 per cent) is now sent via zombie computers so spam needn't originate and be sent from the same country. This has implications for the IT security companies and agencies tasked with combating malicious code and its authors.
Spam containing embedded images almost doubled in 2006 from 18.5 to 35.1 per cent - as spammers exploited the fact that anti-spam filters are programmed to look for text-based content. This method has been widely used in company stock scams where spammers encourage users to buy stock, increase the value of a company and thus make quick profits for the spammers.
Trojans
Users unwittingly downloading Trojans via emails containing “special offers” or controversial news items will be ever present in 2007 (see our article on Storm Trojan this month). Trojans now outweigh Windows worms and viruses by 4:1.
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