Research from security company Symantec reveals a link between the levels of broadband users and the number of hacking attacks within a country.
Speaking at a media conference in Melrose yesterday, Richard Archdeacon, director of Symantec`s European, Middle Eastern and African Innovation Team, noted that the rising ubiquity of broadband in South Korea, the UK and China brought about an increase in cybercrime originating from those nations.
"Once you`re on a broadband connection, you`re online all day. You become a perfect target for a hacker - it`s easy to find you and launch attacks from you," he warned.
Patrick Evans, director of Symantec Africa, added that research indicates that many broadband users in SA and around the world have an anti-virus program only.
"Clearly that is not good enough," he said.
Evans added that cheaper broadband prices make it easier for botnets (robotic networks controlled by one user and used to launch hacking attacks) to be created.
Active hackers
"The hacking market is more active than it ever has been," said Archdeacon, revealing that Symantec`s latest Internet Security Threat Report shows a 50% increase in the total number of viruses and worms worldwide.
The average number of phishing attempts per day is also up - from 5.7 million in 2004 to 7.9 million last year, he added.
Symantec saw an 11% decrease in spamming activity, meaning spam mail now accounts for around 50% of all e-mails, noted Archdeacon.
Vulnerable targets
One of the most concerning discoveries of the past year, he continued, is the emergence of a "vulnerability market" in the criminal environment - whereby hackers are increasingly being employed by criminals to steal identity information in order to perpetrate fraud.
"More attacks today are small criminally-driven attacks designed to make money, rather than the large destructive attacks of the past designed to create publicity."
Forty of the top 50 malicious codes are designed to steal confidential information, he added.
New cybercrime
Archdeacon noted the rise of money-laundering "mule networks", where innocent people are asked to set-up bank accounts through which they will then transfer money, for a small commission, under the pretence that they are helping a charitable organisation.
He also referred to the emerging instant messaging (IM) threats, where worms account for 91% of IM-related malicious code activity, Trojans 9% and viruses less than 1%.
"The IM platform will be more of a security issue in the future," he predicted.
Share
