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Fiscal crisis triggers cyber-crime surge

Staff Writer
By Staff Writer, ITWeb
Johannesburg, 30 Oct 2008

Panda Security has issued a security alert linking the recent stock market volatility and the growth of new threats.

The global IT security vendor says the two are tied together far more closely than previously thought. As the recent stock market instability has accelerated, so has the volume of targeted cyber attacks and their relative impact on the economy over the last month-and-a-half.

On average, the US stock market experienced between a 3% to 7% decline from 1 September to 9 October, Panda says. Malware was the opposite, growing substantially as the stock markets declined.

Similarly, from 5 to 16 September, the Dow Jones Industrial Average, Nasdaq, S&P 500 and Composite Index all dropped from the plus 0% range to approximately negative 3% or lower. In the same period, the Spanish IBEX 35 index and the London FTSE 100 also suffered major losses. The same timeframe witnessed a significant surge in daily malware threats, growing from 10 150 to well over 24 000.

Moreover, analysts at the company say the recent spike in malware could be related to cyber-criminals now having fewer possible targets as a result of consolidation within the banking industry.

“When we began looking into the specific effects cyber-criminals had on the economy during times of duress we found a startling connection: the criminal economy is closely interrelated with the global economy,” says Jeremy Matthews, head of Panda Security's sub-Saharan operations.

“Based on our extensive research and analysis of emerging malware patterns, we believe criminal organisations are closely watching market performance and adapting as needed to ensure maximum profit.”

Matthews says the new strategy seems to have been developed in response to banking industry consolidation brought on by the multimillion-dollar bank bailout packages introduced by several governments around the world. “As a result of this consolidation, fewer banking entities will exist in the long-term and the perception of instability in the financial community makes for a less attractive target. This situation has increased the volume of other types of malware such as adware, which under normal circumstances would be second to Trojans.”

Cyber-criminals have to increase their activity to reach more users with campaigns designed to put money directly into their pockets, especially during times of economic instability, says Matthews. Panda has seen a surge in the number of fake anti-virus software scams that fool unsuspecting users into making an online transaction, instead of criminals relying heavily on phishing the credentials for banks.

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