Malware Samples Constantly Grew During April 2011, Reports GFI Software

GFI Software, which recently released its list of the ten most-prevalent e-threats for April 2011, indicated that there was an uninterrupted rise in the total malware items spotted during the month, as well as that 73,000 fresh e-threats were unleashed everyday, accounting for a 26% rise from April 2010.

Moreover during April 2011, malware authors and Internet scammers launched a much more robust campaign involving scareware assaults, using the theme of many prominent events such as the centenary celebration about Yuri Gagarin getting to be the first human to reach space, the Royal Wedding in Britain, the long-form birth documentation release of President Obama, and the Easter vacation.

Stated Senior Threat Researcher Christopher Boyd at GFI Software, along with more 'scareware' or 'fake anti-virus' scams, there was an increase in major data hacks during April 2011. Both the PlayStation Network of Sony and Epsilon the Internet marketing company encountered data hacks in April 2011. For those influenced with severe data hacks, Boyd added that it was extremely essential for keeping watch over a long time even after the early turmoil subsided. Sourcewire.com reported this on May 12, 2011.

One more well-known attack medium that cyber-criminals employed during April 2011 related to BHSEO (Black-Hat Search Engine Optimizations) techniques. GFI cautioned that this attack of poisoning search engine results would continue as a major hazard during May 2011 as well, exploiting happenings like the Indianapolis 500 motorcar race, the Osama bin-Laden assassination, the writer Douglas Adams' birthday, as well as the college graduation celebration. Thus, users require being watchful about any Web offer or unsolicited e-mail that may involve SEO corruption abusing the said events.

Additionally, GFI's new study further discovered that 7 most widespread malicious programs among the total ten included Trojans during April 2011. A general group of malicious programs Trojan.Win32.Generic!BT, which comprises different Trojans, remained as the greatest hazard, being responsible for more than 20% of all malicious programs spotted. The SpyEye/Zeus Trojan along with scareware were also listed among the ten most prevalent malware programs. Besides, a Trojan abusing Windows computers' Autorun feature kept on circulating online during April 2011.

Related article: Malware Authors Turn More Insidious

» SPAMfighter News - 5/24/2011