Information-stealing malware is fastest growing business threat

The gateway security company’s latest research also, which outlines the top threats worldwide that afflicted business and home users in the first half of this year, also says that information-stealing and backdoor threats have been the predominant attack problems. Information-stealing malware now accounts for around 10% of all threats tracked, according to Paul Judge, chief technology officer at Secure Computing – up from 8% in January. He cites the latest variant of the GpCoder ransomware and the OnlineGames family of password-stealers. Some attacks are regional, as in the latest wave of iBill fake invoice trojans that were mass-mailed primarily in Germany. Users who launched the malware attached to these emails (subject line ‘PayPal E-TAN Software Nr’) were infected by the BZub.IF Trojan, which monitors keystrokes and steals passwords from login web pages. Judge also anticipates a move away from malware directly attached to emails, towards messages that link to web-hosted malware. Meanwhile, Trojans continue to dominate the malware scene, accounting for nearly 63% of all newly-discovered variants – up from 58% in January – and Windows executable files remain the most popular vector for distributing new attacks. Currently, says Judge, the top malware types, by new variants, for both web and email, excluding self-replicating malware, comprise spyware infestations and phishing – both on the rise as attackers revert to more targeted attacks. That’s backed up by analyst Gartner, which expects financially-motivated targeted attacks, using undetectable professional-grade malware, to have infected fully 75% of businesses by the end of 2007. Also, today’s adware is now more often categorised as surveillance-driven spyware – programs that are dropped onto a user’s system and installed without their knowledge. Incidentally, spam linking to exploit sites where spyware is installed has also become an increasing issue among consumers. “Today’s threats are faster and more complex than ever,” warns Judge. “Secure Computing’s reputation-based web gateway security solutions are optimally positioned to protect customers from phishing, malware and blended threats.”