NEW DELHI
Pragati Simlote
NEW DELHI: The year 2005 saw the dominance of worms. Major
worms that circulated around the globe were the MYTOB, LOVGATE, NETSKY, SASSER,
ZAFI, and SOBER variants. The year also saw the rise of blended threats with a
prime example being the Trojan BAGLE, which first enters systems as a Trojan and
then launched a Worm.
According to Trend Micro, the rising use of smart phones also
saw outbreaks of malware targeted at mobile phones. Some major examples were the
LOCKNUT, SKULLS and CABIR threats. Other threats such as Spyware, Phishing,
Pharming, etc. also reported steep rise.
Major target included social engineering, which is the name
given to the practice of obtaining confidential information by manipulation of
legitimate users, Adware & Spyware and Phishing.
According to Trend Micro, in 2005, the battle against malware
shifted to multiple fronts. Over the years, malware threats have taken shape in
various forms each of which is designed to wreak havoc on the unsuspecting user.
Moving on from plain jane viruses, malware writers now have a vast array of
weapons such as worms, trojans, spyware, phishing scams, hijacking DNS servers
via pharming, etc.
With the focus being on convergence, Trend Micro is seeing
the rise of cross platform threats, which push the security envelope for any
individual or corporate. While conventional threats continue to trouble anti
virus experts, the focus now shifts to blended threats designed to strike in
multiple ways across various devices.
With a change in the type of viruses the tendencies of virus
programmers is also changing. If some years ago they were looking for the fame,
recognition and ego improvement, now are looking for money, big money.
mso-fareast-language:EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA">As in the previous years, it
was Windows OS that was the most hacked operating system in 2005. It is the most
used OS, so the target for Internet threats is wider than other systems.
Worm Watch
Panda Software presents a list of some of the more
curious malicious code to have appeared during 2005.
- Quick
off the blocks. Downloader.AEE has the dubious honor of being the
first threat detected in 2005, as we were still ringing in the New
Year when it first emerged. Seems like the creators of this
malicious code didn't have a party to go to!
- Casanova.
Mydoom.AK, one of the many members of this infamous family of worms,
uses a range of subjects and file names connected with Valentine's
Day... along with other
more lurid bait.
- most
ingenious. Assiral.A spreads in an email message very similar to the
one used by LoveLetter. In social engineering just like in fashion,
it looks like the classics will always make a comeback.
- A
frustrated reporter. Crowt.A, a worm that spread in mail messages
containing CNN headlines, wanted to cause as much damage as possible
or simply keep us all up-to-speed on what was going on in the world.
Fortunately, they didn't achieve either.
- The
most annoying. Elitper.D wins hands down as it can prevent up to 90
applications from running, including Word, Excel, Winzip and Winrar.
- Soccer
mad. Sober.V took advantage of next year's World Cup in Germany to
trick users by offering free tickets to the finals.
- The
most incompetent. Banker.APM is a Trojan that tries to steal
confidential bank details. However, due to numerous programming
errors, it turns out to be something of a failure as a thief. Just
as well really!
- Liar,
liar... Downloader.EJD spreads in messages that claim to be from
Microsoft. These emails warn users of the danger of the wave of
Zotob and IRCBot worms that saturated the Net in August, and try to
trick the unwary into running the supposed patch to prevent
infection.
- How
low can you get? Pretty low it seems when you try to benefit from
others' misfortune. Zar.A.worm uses the subject of donations to
the victims of the Asian tsunami in order to trick users.
Downloader.ENC pulls a similar stunt using hurricane Katrina. In
this case, a web page supposedly offering support to victims of
Katrina actually downloads a Trojan on to visitors' computers.
- Organized
crime. Even thieves need to be organized. With all the data that
Rona.A can steal from computers, it is no wonder that it's so
organized: version and date of its own installation; Internet
connection details; actions it has taken and the time and date of
each of them, etc.
- Thieves
on the prowl. The biggest thieves this year have been the Banker
Trojans, designed to carry out online fraud. Nevertheless, the
creators of these malicious codes could well do with investing some
of their returns on language classes, as the messages that some of
the Trojans use to trick users leave a lot to be desired.
- Spoilsport.This
'accolade' goes to the Format.A Trojan, designed for PSP
(PlayStation Portable) and Tahen.A and Tahen.B, aimed at Nintendo
DS. These creations don't just annoy users of these video
consoles, but can even render the hardware completely unusable.
- The
most observant. The Bancos.NL Trojan stands out in this section. It
spies on users by waiting until they enter financial or banking
websites. This, in itself, is nothing new as many other malicious
codes take similar action but can normally only monitor a few
hundred Web addresses. Bancos.NL however, monitors some 3000
addresses.
-
mso-fareast-language:EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA">Modern times. ComWar.A.worm
is the first worm for cell phones that can send itself in MMS
messages, in the same way as classic email worms.
|
/ciol/media/agency_attachments/c0E28gS06GM3VmrXNw5G.png)
Follow Us