The Malware Threat Becoming Increasingly Problematic

Boston-situated Aite Group an analyst company recently issued a research paper, which states that cyber-attackers especially malware purveyors are becoming bad to worse as well as are set to cause substantial losses worth $210m in North America during the current year (2011). 'Bank Systems & Technology' published this on September 23, 2011.

While studying the existing danger that online crime imposes on businesses and banks worldwide, the research paper also talks about related regulation as well as explores what enterprises perceive about responses from financial institutions. The study has used research material accumulated at the time of 3 studies by the Aite Group along with interviews with over 40 suppliers within the space.

So referring to the above Aite studies and the conversations with the 40 fraud-control agencies, the analyst company forecasts that the total number of malicious programs accompanied with their resultant losses, will simply flourish. Using Panda Security's data, Julie Conroy McNelley, Senior Analyst at Aite computes that there'll be 25m fresh, exclusive malware items introduced online during 2011 followed with an increase to 87m malware items by 2015.

In the meantime, several compromises occur when malicious software is loaded onto any PC via making the user to go to a contaminated website or viewing a file attachment in a rogue e-mail. Further, online crooks are currently also resorting to social networks for dropping malicious programs by enticing home consumers or big enterprise employees with messages making an invitation.

Reportedly, during June 2011, Aite surveyed 110 SMB (small-and-medium sized business) owners of which 67% responded that online-fraud hadn't targeted their organizations, whilst 23% said that they underwent a failed attempt. Moreover, 6% reported they experienced an effective attempt, however, it caused no loss; whilst according to 4%, they suffered an effective attempt accompanied with resultant loss.

Some other malicious software are man-in-the-middle programs, which are capable of seizing data during an interaction between an end-user and Internet site; computer worms and viruses that multiply to destruct host computers; as also rootkits meaning programs, which conceal an attack's evidence. Finally, botnets, which are armies of compromised PCs, take instructions from their controllers.

Related article: THE SPAM MAFIA

» SPAMfighter News - 10/4/2011