Learn from the mistakes of others

Crooks take kids' place

MAY 09, 2006 A STUDY by security company Panda Software finds that 70 per cent of the malicious software being circulated is linked to various types of cyber-crime.

Yay. Or something.

The report[*] suggests "financial profit has become a priority" for creators of malware, which includes viruses, worms, Trojan horses and spyware.

NO. There has been a change in the people who are creating and releasing these things. Thieves have a different motivation to script kiddies and others. It is possible that the motivation of some of these people have changed, but it would be erroneous to say that it's a general trend. That's confusing 'cause' and 'effect', making unwarranted assumptions - need to have/demonstrate more specific information to establish that assertion.

The survey marks a shift from several years ago, when malware was commonly created by script kiddies seeking attention or to expose security flaws.

There's also a lot more clueless money out there now too.

"Malware has become a tool for generating financial returns," the report says.

New business model?

The report says hackers are moving away from email worms to forms of malicious code that are more difficult to detect.

These are not hackers. They're thieves, fraudsters.

About 40 per cent of the problems detected by Panda were spyware. Another 17 per cent were Trojans including those that steal data on bank services.

At least the journalist can report this accurately: Panda cannot (and does not) assert that they have detected anything more than a sample of what's going on out there - and one constrained by their ability to detect them in the first place.

Others would download malicious applications to systems.

*sigh*

AFP [CeBIT.au06 on australianIT.com.au.]</td></tr>

[*] Can be downloaded from http://www.pandasoftware.com/pandalabsQ12006/ -> free registration required <-

Crooks take kids' place

MAY 09, 2006 A STUDY by security company Panda Software finds that 70 per cent of the malicious software being circulated is linked to various types of cyber-crime.

Yay. Or something.

The report[*] suggests "financial profit has become a priority" for creators of malware, which includes viruses, worms, Trojan horses and spyware.

NO. There has been a change in the people who are creating and releasing these things. Thieves have a different motivation to script kiddies and others. It is possible that the motivation of some of these people have changed, but it would be erroneous to say that it's a general trend. That's confusing 'cause' and 'effect', making unwarranted assumptions - need to have/demonstrate more specific information to establish that assertion.

The survey marks a shift from several years ago, when malware was commonly created by script kiddies seeking attention or to expose security flaws.

There's also a lot more clueless money out there now too.

"Malware has become a tool for generating financial returns," the report says.

New business model?

The report says hackers are moving away from email worms to forms of malicious code that are more difficult to detect.

These are not hackers. They're thieves, fraudsters.

About 40 per cent of the problems detected by Panda were spyware. Another 17 per cent were Trojans including those that steal data on bank services.

At least the journalist can report this accurately: Panda cannot (and does not) assert that they have detected anything more than a sample of what's going on out there - and one constrained by their ability to detect them in the first place.

Others would download malicious applications to systems.

*sigh*

AFP [CeBIT.au06 on australianIT.com.au.]</td></tr>

[*] Can be downloaded from http://www.pandasoftware.com/pandalabsQ12006/ -> free registration required <-

( Read more... )

( Read more... )