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Cyber-criminals look to other platforms

Staff Writer
By Staff Writer, ITWeb
Johannesburg, 13 Mar 2008

One of the key trends for the second quarter of 2008 will be the increase in the amount of malware, known and unknown, in circulation, says PandaLabs.

There was a notable increase in 2007 compared to previous years and this trend will most likely intensify this year, the company adds.

PandaLabs also expects this growth to affect platforms that were not previously targeted by cyber-crooks, resulting in an increase in threats aimed at Mac systems or VOIP services.

As for the objectives of threat creators, they will be the same as today, PandaLabs explains. According to the lab, banker Trojans will continue to be present and there will be 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.

It notes that during 2007, theft of this kind of data has consolidated as a new criminal business model on the Internet.

According to Jeremy Matthews, head of Panda Security's sub-Saharan operations: "The current platforms will not be the only ones under attack. As systems such as iPhone and gPhone become more popular among users, malware creators will start to use them to spread their creations and obtain benefits."

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