High-Rise Web Attacks Likely in 2007

As per predictions of Internet Security Company McAfee, 2007 will see an increase in the number of online attacks. McAfee pointed that last year web-based threats were far greater than conventional mass-mailing threats, and this trend is likely to continue. The major reason for this will be the growth in malware infected Web pages.

Web security company 'ScanSafe' reports that Internet surfing will infect more and more computers. It said that this year, web-based threats have left behind mass-mailing threats, a trend that would continue in 2007.

ScanSafe warns that online criminals are always on the lookout for 'social networking sites', 'RSS feeds', 'wikis' and 'blogs'. The company predicts that hackers of 2007 will keep a firm watch on 'social networking sites', 'RSS feeds', 'blogs', 'wikis' and other 'web 2.0 applications' to practice their criminal activities. In another prediction for 2007, ScanSafe reported that the large-scale use of web 2.0 sites has made them the most tempting target for malware developers.

The 'ScanSafe Threat Center' said in August 2006 that it estimated one in every 600 'social networking pages' host malware. Further, it found that 'Wikipedia', 'MySpace', and 'YouTube' got exposed to malware in recent weeks.

Explaining that 'user-contributed web pages' and 'traditional web filtering technologies' depended on 'URL databases' and 'honeypots', the company said their constant change could not keep pace with the dynamic content specific to web 2.0 sites. McAfee claimed that surfers who accessed 'blogs' or used 'RSS feeds' put their computers at risk. McAfee predicted for 2007 that 'parasitic' malware or viruses that alter existing files would return, among top ten predictions of that year.

Jeff Green, 'senior vice president' of 'McAfee Avert Labs and product development' said that as use of computers has become an intrinsic and essential part of daily life, within a short period of time, there is a huge opportunity for monetary gains by malware authors. With rise in sophisticated techniques, it is becoming even more difficult for the general Internet user to identify or evade malware infections. Cyber-criminals are also using social networking sites such as 'Friendster' to create profiles of possible victims.

Related article: Hack.Huigezi Virus Attacks China PCs Rapidly

» SPAMfighter News - 12/19/2006