Virus 2005: Small scale, high impact

On the surface, 2005 seems to be a peaceful year for computer security because only six outbreaks of virus damage the Windows system on a large scale while 2004 was 33.

"Today, PC viruses 'pandemics' have dropped significantly worldwide," said Kevin Hogan, Symantec's security response manager."Most hackers have decided to end the act of spreading dangerous software to thousands of e-mail accounts at the same time."

However, this is not a good sign.Year-end statistics from Finnish security firm F-Secure show that the number of large-scale exploits decreased but the program contained malicious code at sudden increases.Similarly, British antivirus company Sophos also recorded 1,940 new variants in November 2005 alone - a record number since the company began setting up virus records.The trend of increasing the new version of the virus is also reflected in the list of 20 viruses of the year ranked by Kaspersky (Russia), in which Mytob worm accounts for half (9 positions).

Thus, instead of trying to spread as many computer systems as possible, the virus author is now modifying the code to attack small groups of users, often bank customers or employees of an organization. Single.

Hogan said only one indirect clue in 2004 showed that cyber criminals were involved in plotting to spread viruses, spam and phishing.But this year the situation has developed in a negative direction."There have been very clear evidence that most of the attacks with dangerous programs this year are for money," Hogan concluded.

Not only are virus writers, phishing groups also screening methods to increase their chances of success.In August, customers of Nordea Bank in Switzerland received an e-mail in the language that directed them to a fake website to steal security codes.Discovering this conspiracy, Nordea closed the online transaction to ensure the money was not illegally transferred.

Viruses are also used to attack players and steal players' accounts as in the case of Lineage II .

2005 also saw the emergence of high-tech criminal gangs, making money by controlling computers to launch pop ups or directing users to certain sites and receiving remuneration from several companies. advertisement.

Online security firm ScanSafe also said the number of spyware they blocked was doubled each month since the beginning of the 2005 service.

The final risk is the emergence of attacks on security software.Many of the computer protection programs such as firewalls, antivirus programs . are caused by hacking groups.

Trong Nghia