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Panda predicts malware trends

Staff Writer
By Staff Writer, ITWeb
Johannesburg, 10 Mar 2008

Panda Security warns that the avalanche of malware designed to steal money from Internet users will affect platforms that have not previously been targeted by cyber-crooks.

Thus there could be an increase in threats aimed at Mac systems or VOIP services, says Jeremy Matthews, head of Panda Security's sub-Saharan operations.

"The current platforms will not be the only ones under attack. As systems like iPhone and gPhone become more popular among users, malware creators will start to use them to spread their creations and obtain benefits," he says.

He also sees a significant rise in the number of Trojans designed to steal information from users of social networks such as MySpace and Facebook, as well as online games. "In fact, during 2007, theft of this kind of data consolidated as a new criminal business model on the Internet."

Criminals are also innovating new methods of propagation, he warns. "We have seen the increasing use of malware installation kits capable of exploiting vulnerabilities in servers to modify Web pages that automatically infected the visitors' computers," Matthews says.

"This will increase considerably in 2008, as these tools have proven to be very effective when it comes to infecting a large number of systems. Also, cyber criminals will continue to be on the lookout for new vulnerabilities in operating systems and applications that allow them to install malware without the user's knowledge.

"In addition to this, classic techniques like social engineering will continue to be used although they could adopt new forms: from greeting cards to fake Windows updates, as has occurred recently.

"Another means of propagation we will no doubt see in the coming months is the so-called 'drive-by download', which consists of inserting a page that can detect vulnerabilities on target computers to infect them," Matthews comments.

"Finally, as for new trends in the technological field, attacks have been increasingly sophisticated and new malware is becoming more and more complex. This complexity stems above all from the merging of several types of threats, resulting in the appearance of hybrid malware."

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