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SA ignorant of spyware threat


Johannesburg, 06 Jul 2006

Spyware is an ever-increasing security threat, and no network or computer is free of these potentially harmful identity theft mechanisms, but few companies take the threat seriously, says Securicom co-founder Brett Casey.

Casey is urging companies to pay closer attention to this phenomenon, as this type of intrusion can have tremendous implications on business, he says.

"Take the recent banking fraud incidents," says Casey. "These were mostly due to key-loggers and not restricted to unsafe computers. It can happen to anyone."

Up to 70% of companies scanned by Securicom either have Trojans or key-loggers somewhere on their networks, he claims.

Bot boom

Symantec`s biannual threat report for the second half of 2005 documents an increase in bot infections, compared to the first half of the year.

"SA scored 35th (globally) with regards to bot infections," says Flip Erasmus, product marketing manager for security at Business Connexion. "We are predicting a bot boom."

International trends indicate a move away from purely malicious viruses to over 100 000 different kinds of spyware aimed at stealing information for financial gain.

"SA is still largely ignorant when it comes to spyware," explains Casey. "The fact that banks have been downplaying this threat is part of the reason." Banks should not blame viruses when the real threat is from spyware designed to harvest user names and passwords, he says.

"Unfortunately, most anti-virus packages do not deal with spyware efficiently and an ordinary firewall offers no protection at all," he says.

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