Out of 27,260 of the Internet based malicious code attacks made on companies in 2004, 15,000 were created specifically to secretly steal information or take over computers for criminal purposes, according to security intelligence provider iDEFENSE.

Internet criminal activity on the increase

Mar 09, 2005: Out of 27,260 of the Internet based malicious code attacks made on companies in 2004, 15,000 were created specifically to secretly steal information or take over computers for criminal purposes, according to security intelligence provider iDEFENSE.

As well as an increase in frequency, iDEFENSE has also found that attacks are also more likely to breach defences such as firewalls, anti-virus software and intrusion detection tools.

The bad news is that identity theft and fraud is likely to continue in 2005. John Watters, the president and CEO of iDEFENSE, said: "The real challenge in dealing with these threats is that you have to know what to look for before it hits and after; many companies don't even know that their defences have been compromised.

"Securing the enterprise today requires an aggressive strategy based on actionable intelligence that protects against even the most advanced attacks."

One of the biggest rising threats involves organised crime rings, which capture personal information for fraud and extortion purposes, without being seen by the victim.

These security infiltrators use Internet Relay Chat and backdoor or remote attacks to steal account numbers, such as bank and credit card details, and passwords too. These are then forward to a confidential hacker in private chat rooms, where they filter this data.

In 2002 there were 438 attacks like this, in 2003, there were 619 recorded instances, and in 2004, there were astonishingly 6,195 attacks.

Backdoor/remote access attacks allows unauthorised users, or an automated robot or 'bot' computer full access to somebody's systems and personal files from a remote location. In 2002, there were 1,484 attacks of this kind, in 2003, there were 2,205 and in 2004 there were 9.262.