• image description
  • CIO.in
  • White Papers
  • Threat Roundup and Forecast: Cybercrime Isn’t Predictable. But Trend Micro is.

Threat Roundup and Forecast: Cybercrime Isn’t Predictable. But Trend Micro is.

Source:
Spam / Anti-Spam
Published:
Apr 13, 2009
Pages:
12

All data provided in this report was gathered from TrendLabsSM- Trend Micro's global threat research and support organization that provides customers with 24x7 response to the latest threats - as well as from Trend Micro's Network Security Services. The era of the global outbreak is over. Today's threats are

  • Stealthy-they try to remain undetected
  • Regional and targeted-they go after users in a specific region or country or users of a specific type of Website
  • Blended and sequential-they use combinations of malware that each play a role in the delivery of the payload
  • Web-based-they use the Web for delivery, update, and entrenchment and to report back stolen information
  • Profit-driven-their goal is to make money

There are economies built around the creation, sale and utilization of malware. The first six months of 2007 present several examples of just how the threat landscape has evolved, including "Storm" at the beginning of the year and the "Italian Job" most recently in June. Trend Micro continues to see explosive growth in Web threats and little abatement in messaging threats. Web threats, threats that use the Internet to perform malicious activities unbeknownst to the PC user, persist in their utilization of automated techniques and exploitation of vulnerabilities to achieve identity and information theft.

They target specific groups of users and employ blended techniques to accomplish their goals. The technologies and techniques used for malicious purposes continue to grow more sophisticated. During the first half of 2007, Trend Micro saw file infectors taking on new roles, social engineering techniques becoming very adept at leveraging current affairs, phishing scams targeting smaller regional establishments, and authentic looking email messages carrying malware.

The use of Web 2.0 technologies, such as Javascript, was frequently used for drive-by-downloads, where users need only visit a malicious URL to become infected. The first half of 2007 also brought with it a renewed vigilante-style interest in undiscovered application and OS vulnerabilities, as various Month of Bugs projects emerged to challenge software developers.

As a result, malware exploiting these vulnerabilities was written and introduced into the wild. Web applications experienced the brunt of the attacks, as latent vulnerabilities were used in XSS and XSRF attacks targeting social networking sites. Perhaps the most disturbing development is the persistent rise in the use of bots and botnets to distribute spam and malware and perpetrate cyber crimes. Botnets remain the most powerful tool at malware authors' disposal in the bid for computer-automated crime. Several malware activities during this period continue to betray a possible underground economy that harnesses the computing power of compromised computers to perform certain tasks.

In an effort to provide the best analysis, Trend Micro looks for new ways to analyze and understand the threat landscape as it evolves. This report examines threats in the following categories:

1. Infrastructure vulnerabilities: Threats that originate from the existence of security weaknesses in applications, network architecture or operating systems.
2. High-impact threats: Threats that have the capacity to cause very high localized damage. Examples include global outbreaks and targeted attacks.

3. Content-based threats: Threats which are delivered to the target victim as part of content, such as phishing or spam.

4. Process-based threats: Threats that are in the form of an executable application resident on the host PC. Examples include malware, spyware and adware.

5. Distributed threats: Threats, like bots, where the infection is used to mount an attack on a third-party victim.

 

To download the full whitepaper/case study, please provide the following information:

Other Spam / Anti-Spam White Papers

Re-engineering Legacy to Web Application

Reengineering of software is described as the examination and alteration of a system to reconstitute in a new form. The approach is to renovate and extend the current application into new technology to best support the needs of the current business. Application modernization should be achieved by leveraging the existing investment in application infrastructure and reposition the product advantageously for the future. The challenge on hand is to convert legacy application to web application by reengineering legacy components to re-usable components. The web application can be easily integrated with web technologies.

View all White Papers by Spam / Anti-Spam