Hackers Attack Using Login Theft Method

A study financed by BIOS vendors Phoenix Technologies at a research firm in California finds that hacker attacks can be considerably prevented by business organizations if they can identify the computers logging onto their network along with the users' identity. And this prevention is possible for every eight out of ten attacks. The research study was based on the cases prosecuted under US federal authorities during 1999 to 2006.

Talking about the nature of the survey, Dirck Schou, the senior director of security solutions at Phoenix said they were trying to get an honest viewpoint because often the problem with such types of studies relate to companies' hesitation to admit a flaw or breach in their systems. Schou was appreciative of the beauty of the data, which was looking at only the actual sufferers of an attack.

It was realized through the research that organizations did not suffer so much from some form of malware attack as from attacks due to login thefts and stolen identities that proved heavily on their financial expenses. A hacker attack on a privileged account led to an average damage of around US $1.5 million as compared to the average damage caused by a virus attack, which amounted to about US $2,400 only.

According to the report, cyber criminals used employ various means to obtain IDs and passwords of privileged accounts. Some of these techniques are 'network sniffing', use of 'password cracking programs', and 'collusion with insiders'. In the Hackingpast, Hacking also took place when employees shared their IDs and passwords with fellow colleagues who later left the organization and used that knowledge to access their former companies' networks.

The above kinds of attacks were are launched mostly from an external source ;in as much as in about six out of every ten . attacks. The attackers use worms and Trojan horses to record personal information and this they do more than infecting PCs or blocking networks.

84% of attacks were from computers that were not connected to the network and majority of them i.e., 78% came from home PCs.

Schou was dismayed at the intensity and magnitude of illegal access attacks. He believed that companies should secure an authentication device.

Related article: Hackers Redirect Windows Live Search to Malicious Sites

» SPAMfighter News - 9/2/2006