Security Experts Caution of Staggering Rise in Malware Attacks

The latest research from ScanSafe, an online security firm, reveals that malware levels rose by a huge 300% in 2008. The company noticed a significant growth in iframe and exploits attacks, which increased by 1,731%, while data stealing trojans surged by 1,559%.

The report from ScanSafe also discloses that the reputed sites are the most malicious sites on the Internet as they are often targeted by SQL injection attacks. The company reported that it found almost 780,000 malicious web pages during April 2008 due to a single SQL injection attack.

The report also discovers that the web is a massive platform for data harvesting, with hackers are now aiming at the sensitive information. ScanSafe says that as several malware delivered through the web offers configurability and remote customization advantages, hackers are able to attack specific data and remotely handle the operations of data stealing.

Mary Landesman, Senior Security Researcher, ScanSafe, states that nowadays, malware are used for harvesting and stealing data. She also adds that online business has turned into attractive business that generates a huge sum of money in the black market from commercial and private data, as reported by SCMagazine on March 11, 2009.

Further, she adds that rise in criminal activity is linked with the downturn in the global economy. Mary also says that they witness continuous increase in web delivered malware during 2008, touching peak levels between October and November 2008, as reported by Vnunet on March 11, 2009.

She also claims that the increasing unemployment is aggravating the criminal activities. Also, cyber criminal is a viable business opportunity in a scenario where authentic opportunities are very limited.

The report also recognizes 5 industries frequently attacked by data stealing Trojans. They are Travel and Entertainment, Oil and Energy, Shipping and Transportation, Chemical and Pharmaceutical and Construction and Engineering. The number of new kinds of data stealing trojans targeted against Oil and Energy sector surged around four times from the average level of 57.

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» SPAMfighter News - 3/17/2009