Malware Attacks in July 2008 Higher Than Whole of 2007

ScanSafe, a leading provider of Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) Web Security, reported through its Global Threat Report released on August 27, 2008 that the amount of malware it blocked in July 2008 increased 87% over the preceding month of June 2008.

Also, the amount of malware ScanSafe blocked in the first two weeks of July 2008 was particularly high. The company further revealed that the volume of malware blocked in July 2008 was 34% higher than during the entire period of 2007.

This enormous increase was mainly the outcome of SQL injection attacks that accounted for 75% of the total blocks. Also, most of the SQL injection attacks were associated with the Asprox botnet that already caused huge damage to many authorized Websites. According to ScanSafe, the Asprox botnet has its base in Russia, with criminal interests varying from click fraud and spam to trojans and phony anti-spyware software.

ScanSafe further reported that in June 2008, there was a 278% increase in Web-based malware during the first half of 2008 (between January and June 2008). And this increase was due to the ongoing hacking of Websites, representing 83% of the total malware the company blocked in July 2008.

July 2008 also witnessed a growth in e-mail scams that were socially engineered and designed to load malware, including rogue scanners and backdoor trojans on victims' systems. Evidence suggested that these e-mail scams using socially engineered tactics were able to bypass spam filters. This is a cause of worry as 95% of ScanSafe customers became convinced with the frauds and they clicked to reach malicious sites that represented 1.3% of the total malware blocks made in July 2008.

According to Mary Landesman, Senior Security Researcher at ScanSafe, it is bewildering that internet criminals are becoming more and more sophisticated in devising e-mail scams that are increasingly being trusted by the people, as reported by IT PRO on August 27, 2008.

ScanSafe has advised that along with enforcing Web-filtering mechanism, IT departments need to proactively spread information to raise the user's level of awareness about the characteristics of existing as well as new threats.

Related article: Malware Authors Turn More Insidious

» SPAMfighter News - 03-09-2008

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