Kaspersky Lab Report Says Vista Will Determine The Malware Progress

Anti-virus firm Kaspersky Lab predicts in its latest report that the new operating system (OS) Window Vista by Microsoft will be a major factor for the development of malevolent code over the coming few years.

The author of the report said that although there are very few chances of major change in the coming years, this new OS would certainly establish the future trends.

The report also states that there would be a considerable rise in the amount of malevolent programs for other operating systems, first for operating system X, and then for Unix.

As per the report, because of the lack of serious flaws in MS Windows system services, cyber criminals and other wrongdoers have shifted their interest to other famous software products.

Alex Gostev, Senior Virus Analyst, Kaspersky Lab, said in a statement reported by ITWEEK on February 2, 2007, that MS Word, PowerPoint, and Excel, all have been victimized by blackhat hackers. During the year, the amount of flaws become crossed the limit of two dozen, and all of the flaws were brought to public notice before Microsoft could release a patch to plug the relevant flaw.

The report thinks that beginning of encryption of user files to extract money from victims was an important step by nasty users in 2006. Such activities had limited functionality in 2005 due to the use of primitive DIY encryption algorithms. However, in 2006, these operations used professional cryptographic algorithms, like RSA, that are believed to among the most secure.

Nasty users are also likely to explore the possibilities of malevolent code for gaming consoles, such as Nintendo and PlayStation more comprehensively, said the report. The escalating number of such types of devices and their new competencies to communicate with each other and with the net may draw the attention of virus authors.

Kaspersky Lab said that the amount of targeted attacks on medium and large size businesses would grow in 2007. Ransomware, that extracts money from a user by encrypting data on a system until the payment is made, will be among the primary ways by which the offenders will benefit from their victims. The report added that Microsoft Office files would be among the major infection vectors, and it is true for the security holes in this specific product also.

The writers stated that currently, such attacks would be restricted to cyber-vandalism and proof-of-concept.

Related article: Kaspersky Released malware Statistics for September 2008

» SPAMfighter News - 3/19/2007