June Malware Threats Chase Financial Returns

Trojans and adware reported for 49.6% of infections that Panda ActiveScan detected in June 2007, according to PandaLabs. Trojans, which grew by 0.75% in the month contributed to 26.89% of infections, while 22.72% infections were caused by the adware. These statistics indicate that most malware are especially designed to fraudulently acquire monetary gains, according to news that HNS published on July 2, 2007.

Other malicious code demonstrated the same factors as in the previous month (May '07). Worms occupied the third position ranking with 8.71% of infections while backdoor trojans followed at 3.87%, dialers at 3.34% and spyware at 2.99%. Bots were lowest in the list accounting for 2.58% of malware infections.

Comparing with May 2007, the scenario in June remained more or less same. Figures showed that cyber crooks were chasing financial returns once again. The trend of trojans and adware causing almost 50 percent of the infections demonstrate that cyber criminals are primarily inclined to online fraud, explains Luis Corrons, technical director of PandaLabs. FinancialMirror published this on July 4, 2007.

In the rankings of the ten most forceful malware threats, Downloader.MDW leads unquestionably although this is its first appearance. This Trojan typically downloads other malicious code onto the victim's computer. Second in ranking is the very familiar Brontok.H worm, which ranked third in May 2007 list. Next is the Sabot.ftp worm that uses the FTP script to install itself. This worm has traveled four places up since May. Now it is dangerously moving towards the peak of the chart.

Climbing up from the fifth position in May 2007, Puce.E worm rose to the fourth place in June. This worm spreads through P2P networks. The fifth place was for the Dropper.UN Trojan, coming up all the way from the ninth spot in May. A new Trojan that grabs personal data was the Perlovga.A, in the sixth place. Another new malware, the password stealer Lineage.BZE occupies the seventh place.

Only one and a new backdoor Trojan, PcClient.DU is eighth in rank. The Downloader.NOE has come down five places from May to the ninth spot in June. The last is another new arrival, the Lowzones.TP.

Related article: June Spam Returned to a Peak, Said SoftScan

» SPAMfighter News - 7/17/2007