3 Billion Malware Attacks and Counting

Almost half the total population of this planet.  At this rate, we’ll all have our own personalized malware in the coming years, specifically tailored for our various behaviors.  I built this infection especially for you.  Symantec recently released their annual Internet Security Threat Report for 2010 and noted that the cyber threats are increasing both in sophistication and frequency.  They found more than 286 million new threats last year with social networks and mobile devices being a favorite targets.  Mobile vulnerabilities were up 42% with 163 discovered last year.  The U.S. actually topped the list in many nasty categories: Most targeted country by DoS attacks (65% of total), most bot command and control servers (37% of total), most infected computers (14% of total) and most overall malicious activity (19% of total). 

As you may know, I like numbers and statistics and there were a couple supplemental reports that I found interesting.  The Year in Numbers and The 2010 Timeline.  Each is a single page report with highlights from the year.  The highlights, or lowlights depending on your view are:

• 93% Increase in Web Based Attacks - URL shorts were the main culprit accounting for 65% of the malicious URLs over a 3 month period.
• 260,000 Identities Exposed per Breach - The average number for each of the data breaches during the year.
• 42% More Mobile Vulnerabilities – Remember, we’re now keeping our lives on these devices.
• 6,253 New Vulnerabilities  - More than any previous year and new vendors affected by a vulnerability grew 161%.
• 14 New Zero-Day Vulnerabilities – From IE to Flash to Reader.  Stuxnet used 4 unique zero-days. 
• 74% Pharmaceutical Spam – 3/4 of all spam were for Rx pills.  Will you take the red one or the blue one?
• 1 Million Plus Bots – Rustock had over a million bots under control.  No draft dodgers here.
• $15 per 10,000 bots – Utility spam services…Get your bot herrrrrrrrrrah.
• $.07 to $100 per Credit Card – Cost of a stolen credit card but if you buy in bulk, get a discount.

Lastly, if you are looking for porn, then more than likely you’ll find malware and the leading culprit of a breach which could lead to identity theft was a lost/stolen computer or data storage device.  One of the cool things about the data offered is the ability to build your own custom report.  You can select various topics or trends to customize the report specifically to your area of interest.

ps

Resources

• Symantec Threat Activity Report: U.S. Tops the List
• Looking for malware? Search for porn
• Internet Security Threat Report, Volume 16
• Build your custom version of the Internet Security Threat Report, Volume 16
• The Big Attacks are Back…Not That They Ever Stopped
• Where Do You Wear Your Malware?
• A Digital Poltergeist On Your Television
• The New Wallet: Is it Dumb to Carry a Smartphone?
• Social Media – Friend or Foe