Security experts at AVG, developer of the AVG family of security software products, just released their analysis of 2007's top viruses, Internet hacks and exploits — and reveal their forecast for the top security threats facing computer users in 2008. E-tailers should beware, as search engines, social networking sites and paid search campaigns are tagged as vulnerable areas for threats.
According to the team, viruses comprised 15 percent of the threat in 2007, consistent with the company's predictions at the end of 2006 with phishing scams, backdoor worms, trojans, keyloggers, spyware, adware and other Web-based exploits also threatening security online.
Top 10 Viruses for 2007 According to AVG global security strategist Larry Bridwell, the 10 viruses exhibiting the most staying power in 2007 are:
"The anti-virus industry has been in a transition period the past two to three years as malware has morphed from simple viruses to complex malicious Web site hacks that combine exploits and social engineering to scam unsuspecting users of their data," Bridwell said.
Unlike traditional malware, such as viruses or Trojans, that are created by thrill-seeking programmers and computer geeks trying to create chaos, exploits are a fast-growing category of crimeware applications used by criminal cyber-gangs to steal digital assets for financial gain, according to the company. Exploits are usually delivered in the form of drive-by downloads intended to take advantage of unpatched computer vulnerabilities, according to the report. "We expect the bad guys to leverage the knowledge gained this year to wage larger scale attacks using a wide range of malware tools," said AVG Chief Technology Officer Karel Obluk. "The real danger is that these attacks will begin to impact the growth of search engine and social networking use."
Top 10 Web Exploits for 2007 Drawing on research gained through its recent acquisition of Exploit Prevention Labs, AVG identified the following as the top 10 Web exploits of last year:
"From the attacks on Facebook and the Major League Baseball Web sites to the Alicia Keys' sites, it's clear over the past year that incidence of online threats is accelerating," says Roger Thompson, chief research officer at AVG "In 2008, Internet users are likely to see more sophisticated attacks as organized cybercriminals step up their efforts to steal digital assets from social networking site users. Social networks are particularly vulnerable because they rely heavily on hyperlinked content, information sharing and the trust of their participants."
Top Five Security Threats Expected in 2008 Thompson's team has identified five major areas of continued or increased risk for Internet users in the coming year:
Web exploits and Web-based social engineering attacks. "Viruses will continue to be a threat, but we'll also see an explosion of exploits through social engineering and Web 2.0 attacks in 2008," says Thompson.
Storm Worm on the rise. "Storm is here to stay," says Obluk. "We're seeing pieces of Storm sold off to the bad guys and we expect orchestrated attacks across multiple platforms."
E-mail propagated viruses. Many novice users remain unaware of email security issues and continue to open attachments from senders they do not know or click on unsafe hyperlinks.
Web exploits targeting trusted web sites. "Today's cybercriminals tend to go for the low-hanging fruit," says Thompson. "If they can infiltrate a popular site, they will reap their rewards quickly and be gone in no time."
An increase in the number of Windows Vista attacks. With increasing adoption of Microsoft's latest operating system, Vista will become a bigger and thus a more tempting target for the bad guys.
While AVG expects international law makers to pay closer attention to cybercrime in 2008, they say it's unlikely that stronger laws will deter cybercriminals. "The international laws against drug trafficking have not significantly dented the traffickers' incomes," says Obluk. "So there's little reason for us to believe that laws against criminal behavior in cyberspace will have much impact on online fraud. There is simply too much money to be made."
Michelle Megna is managing editor of ECommerce-Guide.com.
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