IBM Warns of Upsurge in Hi-Tech Malware

The X-Force Research and Development team of IBM has detected and examined over 210,000 latest specimens of malware, which is greater than the entire batch of malware samples analyzed throughout the year 2006.

As per IBM, hacking as a service industry is increasingly advancing with malware on rise. The black-market for spam and malicious codes is also transforming, the study observes, with the suppliers of malware to spam vendors presently renting the malware so that prospective clients can check the efficiency of the malware with a payment of small money in advance.

As indicated by the study, Trojan horses (ostensibly legal files that are in reality malware) are the most ordinary type of malware in 2007, representing 28% of total malware. During 2006, Downloader was the most familiar type. A downloader is an inconspicuous type of malware that fixes itself so that it can afterward download and embed an advanced malware variant.

The security data report for 2006 by IBM's X-Force forecasted a continuous increase in the advancement of focused, lucrative hacking, revealed X-Force's director, Kris Lamb, as per the 17 September 2007 news of Computerworld. This precisely corresponds to the increase in trend of trojans seen this year, since trojans are frequently employed by hackers to propel continued, focused assaults.

However, going against past trends, X-Force reports a small reduction in the total number of flaws exposed in the initial six months of 2007 compared to the same period in 2006. Almost 3,273 flaws were detected in the initial six months of 2007, a YOY drop of 3.3%. On the other hand, the proportion of high-impact flaws has risen, from 16% in the first six months of 2006 to 21% for the same period in 2007.

An equally surprising trend in the study is the reduction in spam volume. The drop indicates a decline in picture-based spam, stated IBM.

The decline in spam e-mail volume and graphic-based spam is due to spammers implementing and trying out latest methods, like Excel and PDF-supported spam, in order to evade the detection more effectively by the anti-spam technologies, according to Lamb.

Related article: IBM Mainframes’ Vulnerability to Attacks

» SPAMfighter News - 10/3/2007