Desktops become prime target of security attacks
Desktops become prime target of security attacks
Sep 20, 2005: Hackers are beginning to attack applications on desktops rather than making multipurpose attacks on enterprise perimeters, according to a new report that analysed source of Internet threats in the world between January 1 to June 30, 2005.
The Internet Security Threat Report, provided by Symantec, which provides security solution for individuals and enterprises, also reveals that there is a rise in the exposure of confidential information, resulting in significant financial loss, particularly if credit card information or banking details are exposed.
These are also worrying, since online shopping and Internet banking are on the rise, and during the first half of 2005, malicious code that exposed confidential information represented 74 percent of the top 50 malicious code samples reported by Symantec, up from 54 percent in the previous six months.
Arthur Wong, the vice president of Symantec Security Response and Managed Security Services, talked in more detail about the new trend.
"Attackers are moving away from large, multipurpose attacks on network perimeters and towards smaller, more targeted attacks directed at Web and client-side applications.
"As the threat landscape continues to change, users need to be diligent in keeping systems up-to-date with security patches and security solutions."
The report also found that phishing attacks are still on the rise too. The volume of phishing messages grew from an average of 2.99 million messages a day to 5.70 million.
In addition, one out of every 125 email messages scanned by Symantec Brightmail AntiSpam was a phishing attempt, which is a 100 percent increase from the last half of 2004.
David Sykes, the vice president of Symantec for the Pacific Region, added that overall, the threats are increasing all areas are becoming more sophisticated too.
"Gone are the days when hackers used to attack for kudos. People now attack mainly for financial gain. We have found also that it takes six days for a system to be attacked after a vulnerability has been identified, but it takes 54 days to implement the patch to fix it. This is very worrying.
"So companies have to make sure they have adequate backup and recovery systems in place at all times. In addition, education institutions and small businesses are now at the top of the list for attacks, putting financial services into third on the list."
Sykes also said that the report revealed that Firefox browsers are now more vulnerable to attacks more than ever, probably because Mozilla is more widely used than ever before.
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