Attacks on Windows machines in the first six months of 2004 jumped nearly four-and-a-half times over the same period last year, a security firm said Monday, leading to an explosion in the number of hacker-run bots. . . .. During the first half of the year, Symantec's global network of 20,000 sensors documented nearly 4,500 worms and viruses that targeted Windows, an increase that took even the company's researchers by surprise. "We knew that the number was up [over 2003], but the sheer size of the increase was a big shock once we looked at the data," said Alfred Huger, Symantec's senior director of engineering for its security response team. In an associated trend, the bulk of those Windows-attacking worms and viruses came with a backdoor component. Such backdoors, like those deployed by worms as varied as MyDoom and Bagle, are becoming standard fare in malicious attacks. "The vast majority of these worms come with a backdoor to create a spam proxy or monitor transactional data or steal credit card data," said Huger. In turn, the "popularity" of backdoors led to an upsurge in the number of bots and bot networks in the first half of 2004. According to Symantec, the number of monitored bots -- compromised computers that can be controlled by an attacker, then used for almost any task, including denial-of-service attacks or sending spam -- climbed from around 2,000 per day at the start of the year to more than 30,000 per day by its mid-point, with spikes as high as 75,000. The link for this article located at Gregg Keizer, TechWeb News is no longer available. . In light of an alarming surge, Symantec has identified more than 4,500 specific worms, highlighting a concerning rise in assaults on Windows platforms and the expansion of botnets.. Windows Attacks, Malware Trends, Bot Networks, Cybersecurity Insights. . Anthony Pell
In a recently published report by managed e-mail security provider Message Labs, we can see a dramatical increase in e-mail borne viruses - ratio of virus infected emails to clean e-mails increased 84 percent to 1:33 against 1:212 a year ago.. . .. In a recently published report by managed e-mail security provider Message Labs, we can see a dramatical increase in e-mail borne viruses - ratio of virus infected emails to clean e-mails increased 84 percent to 1:33 against 1:212 a year ago. Viruses and worms received an enormous amount of media coverage during this year. The year started with a bang: the Slammer worm exploited vulnerabilities in Microsoft SQL 2000 servers and hit the Internet, resulting as one of the biggest attacks to date. In January we saw the first version of now infamous worm - Sobig that used a built-in SMTP client and local Windows network shares to spread and inspired a number of new variants that wreaked havoc throughout 2003. February brought us a combination of a worm and a trojan called Lovgate. The next few months gave us a couple of inventive worms: Ganda was using Iraqi war as its social engineering method and Fizzer was replicating over e-mail, as well over the KaZaa peer-to-peer network. August was a truly destruction derby month - it featured all the great ones: Sobig F, Blaster, Welchi and Mimail spread rapidly. Since then there was a large number of copycat worms, using mostly well known replication methods. I've talked with some of the leading experts from the anti virus and data security industry, so beneath, you can see their views on the most important malware happenings in 2003, as well as their future scopes for the upcoming year. The link for this article located at net-security.org is no longer available. . In 2003, the rise of e-mail viruses marked a turning point, with notorious malware like the Sobig virus causing global chaos and urging improved cybersecurity measures. Email Malware,Cyber Threats,2003 Security Report,Virus Outbreak. . Anthony Pell
A program designed to infect vulnerable computers running the open-source Apache Web server application apparently hasn't made it very far, security experts said Monday. As first reported. . .. A program designed to infect vulnerable computers running the open-source Apache Web server application apparently hasn't made it very far, security experts said Monday. As first reported by CNET News.com, the Apache worm infects unpatched servers running the FreeBSD operating system, an open-source variant of Unix, and the Apache Web software. Despite initial reports that the worm had spread to some servers, consultants and antivirus experts haven't seen much activity. "It's pretty much dead," said Marc Maiffret, chief hacking officer for network-protection company eEye Digital Security. "We haven't seen anything." The link for this article located at News.com is no longer available. . Cybersecurity analysts assert that the recent Apache malware aimed at FreeBSD infrastructures has exhibited limited proliferation, representing a minimal threat.. Apache Worm, FreeBSD Security, Web Server Threat, Open Source Malware. . LinuxSecurity.com Team
Since the last regularly scheduled CERT summary, issued in May 2001 (CS-2001-02), we have seen several self-propagating worms, as well as active exploitation of vulnerabilities in Solaris in.lpd, BSD telnet daemon and Microsoft IIS by intruders. In addition, we have seen . . . . Since the last regularly scheduled CERT summary, issued in May 2001 (CS-2001-02), we have seen several self-propagating worms, as well as active exploitation of vulnerabilities in Solaris in.lpd, BSD telnet daemon and Microsoft IIS by intruders. In addition, we have seen an increase in intruder activity directed at home users. For more current information on activity being reported to the CERT/CC, please visit the CERT/CC Current Activity page. The Current Activity page is a regularly updated summary of the most frequent, high-impact types of security incidents and vulnerabilities being reported to the CERT/CC. The information on the Current Activity page is reviewed and updated as reporting trends change. . In May 2001, notable self-replicating worms targeted Solaris and BSD systems, exposing vulnerabilities and causing widespread infections and disruptions. Solaris Security, Worm Exploitation, Cyber Threat Reports. . Anthony Pell
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