Search and destry: Vandals have become new State enemy

Step aside viruses and Trojan Horses - there`s a new guy on the block. Infiltrating our PC havens through the worldwide Web, "vandals" have come with one goal in mind and that is to annihilate our IT world.

Although the Internet has become a playing ground for viruses, thus far we have - to a certain extent - been able to contain them. Vandals on the other hand, are a different challenge altogether.

According to Wayne Biehn, sales director at Securedata, a Dimension Data partner, vandals are exploiting the vulnerabilities of the Web so stealthily that before we even know what has hit us, they can leave a path of destruction.

"Although viruses and vandals both cause disaster, there are fundamental differences between them. Viruses need to replicate, whereas vandals do not replicate at all. A virus also copies itself to a host system or a file while vandals do not. And probably the most significant of all is unlike viruses, vandals never leave a footprint, they simply `hit and run`."

So what are the threats that vandals pose? "Vandals propagate through the Web, therefore using it as highly effective replicatory medium," says Biehn. "A vandal is extremely malicious in that it can insert itself into the Active X or Java components of Web pages.

"Through then infiltrating the system via the Web, it can `sniff` a network in order get to passwords. A vandal will therefore obtain a password when a user browses the Net and opens Web pages."

Brett Marais, business manager at Dimension Data Enterprise Systems, adds: "When we think of `content security`, we always think of viruses only but when we take a closer look, the content threat is much bigger than we thought.

"Companies need to make sure that they are protected against vandals, inappropriate attachments and at the same time not forget about the virus and worm threat."

To date, a whole database of vandals have been identified and studied. As with their virus counterparts, vandals evolve on a daily basis becoming increasingly more dangerous and destructive. One of the biggest problems is that the Web is their feeding ground and combating them may seem like a mammoth task.

But, the good news is that there are solutions that stand firmly in their way. In SA, Dimension Data partners with Securedata to offer best-of-breed anti-virus suites to combat vandals.

"Through Securedata, Dimension Data can provide organisations with the Trend Micro Suite, fighting not only virus and vandal onslaughts but also protecting all aspects of content security and management," says Marais.

"Together, we can stop vandals at the Internet gateway, combating the problem before it starts," says Biehn.