Report: Cons, not vandals, now write viruses
Shorty
Manchester, UK Icrontian
Computer hackers seeking financial gain rather than thrills or notoriety are increasingly flooding the Internet with malicious software code, according to a semi-annual report from security company Symantec.
from security company Symantec.
Symantec's Internet Security Threat Report said that during the first half of 2005, the number of new viruses targeting Microsoft Windows users jumped 48 percent to nearly 11,000 compared with the previous six months, as hackers used new tools and a growing sophistication to create malicious code.
Issued on Sunday, the report also found that viruses exposing confidential information made up three-quarters of the top 50 viruses, worms and Trojans, up from 54 percent in the last six months of 2004.
The report also said an increasing amount of menacing software allows spam to be relayed automatically from computer to computer. Such Trojan programs can download and install adware to display pop-up ads in a person's Web browser.
More so-called robot, or "bot" networks, which are created when a hacker illegally gains control of a large number of computers, are now available for sale or rent in the underworld of the Internet, Symantec said.
Submitted by: Trogan_1000
Source: ZDNet
from security company Symantec.
Symantec's Internet Security Threat Report said that during the first half of 2005, the number of new viruses targeting Microsoft Windows users jumped 48 percent to nearly 11,000 compared with the previous six months, as hackers used new tools and a growing sophistication to create malicious code.
Issued on Sunday, the report also found that viruses exposing confidential information made up three-quarters of the top 50 viruses, worms and Trojans, up from 54 percent in the last six months of 2004.
The report also said an increasing amount of menacing software allows spam to be relayed automatically from computer to computer. Such Trojan programs can download and install adware to display pop-up ads in a person's Web browser.
More so-called robot, or "bot" networks, which are created when a hacker illegally gains control of a large number of computers, are now available for sale or rent in the underworld of the Internet, Symantec said.
Submitted by: Trogan_1000
Source: ZDNet
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