72% of Detections Are Internet Crime in Q3 2006

PandaLabs has published its report for the third quarter of 2006. It highlights that of the total malware incidents the firm detected 72% relating to Internet crime. Trojans, backdoor, adware, spyware, bots and dialers were the frequent threats used to make economic benefit.

The most prevalent threats - adware and spyware accounted for 41% of all detections. Both adware and spyware are associated to advertising in which they try to collect personal information of users when they visit online store websites. These websites offer products and services that adapt to users' preferences. The practice of extorting personal data without the affected user's consent is illegal as it involves violation of users' privacy to make commercial gains.

In comparison to previous reports, threat statistics are more or less same with some significant differences in trojans and backdoors. The number of trojans detected has declined by 5 points as compared to the previous quarter. On the other hand backdoors rose to 7.2% from the total number of detection, conducted by ActiveScan. The number of dialers dropped since the first quarter of 2006, which has been found to result from the rise in broadband Internet connections.

The report also discusses the trend that online criminals follow closely to Microsoft's patching cycle. The recent month events suggest that IT criminals keep a watch on 'second Tuesday' of the month to uncover the latest flaws and which they start to exploit immediately.

The report, however, adds an additional trend that associates with the regular cycle of Microsoft security bulletin release. New malware begins to appear that exploit even some of the latest patched vulnerabilities.

Luis Corrons, director of PandaLabs explains that clearly monetary motives determine the threat creators' distinct activities. They are professional criminals who write malicious code neither to be most notorious nor to display their programming skills, but simply to make money. The firm believes that this trend will not only continue in the future, but even assume higher proportions. In such a situation, it is imperative that one is alert and vigilant and use as many of the technological means of protection as possible.

Related article: “Loopholes did not cause online banking thefts”: ICBC

» SPAMfighter News - 12/26/2006