One new year's resolution we all should make is to
ensure that our networks, PCs and software are protected from
e-criminals, says Simon Moores.
With a little over a month before the big names in
information security and digital law-enforcement descend on London
for the National Hi-Tech Crime Unit’s (NHTCU) 2004 eCrime Congress,
there comes a warning that organised crime is increasing its
efforts to find new and interesting ways of exploiting Europe’s
increasingly broadband society.
According to Sophos, the increasing use of broadband internet
connections and a general lack of security awareness have resulted
in around one in three spam e-mails being redirected through the
computers of unsuspecting users.
One-third of all spam circulating the web is now relayed through
PCs that have been compromised by remote access trojans, and
recently Eugene Kapersky, co-founder of Kapersky Labs and head of
its antivirus research, warned that organised crime is gravitating
online into spam and virus writing.
He pointed at the latest MiMail worms as the first in a new type
of exploit aimed at deriving financial profit from viruses and
malware. The most recent MiMail variant collected and forwarded
PayPal account details to the worm’s author.
Kapersky, referring to the grip that vice and drugs has over the
spam industry, remarked, "If you are a spammer or malware
developer, sooner or later the mafia will come knocking on your
door."
Meanwhile, at a cybercrime conference held in Germany, David
Finn, Microsoft’s director of digital integrity for Europe, the
Middle East and Africa, conceded that the authors of a growing tide
of computer viruses, like Blaster and Sobig-F, are winning a
one-sided battle with international law enforcement and are getting
away with crimes that cost the global economy $13bn in 2003.
With counterfeit software very close to Microsoft’s heart, Finn
told his audience that counterfeit centres are shifting from
California and Western Europe to countries including Paraguay,
Colombia and Ukraine, and pirate plants have emerged in Vietnam,
Macao, and Myanmar in addition to more established facilities in
Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand.
“So far, they are getting away with it. They are winning by a
considerable margin. Very few have been identified or prosecuted or
punished and the profit margin on counterfeit software is
approximately 900% nine times higher than for distributing
cocaine," he said.
Research commissioned by application switching provider Radware
revealed that small companies in the UK are fighting off an average
of 500 attacks each month from viruses, worms and denial-of-service
attempts.
Compared with previous estimates, costs associated with cleaning
up after a virus or worm attack have increased by more than 400%
over the past 12 months to £122,000, says a report from The
Corporate IT Forum.
The Forum surveyed its members - which include more than half of
the FTSE 100 and 250 companies - after the MSBlast worm this
August. The figure of £122,000 is four times that estimated by the
Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) last year.
According to the survey, three out of four IT departments spent
around 365 person-hours repairing damage caused by the attack.
However, 35% of organisations were affected more severely, with
each losing an average of 3,080 person-hours.
In the face of such sobering figures, Vincent Weafer, senior
director of Symantec's security response centre, predicts that 2004
could prove a tough year. “We're in for a repeat of this year and
should expect two to four MSBlast-sized events in 2004 and a major
mass-mailed worm or virus every month on the average."
According to Symantec, the most significant trends this year has
been the rise in so-called "blended' threats, exploits that use
multiple modes of infection, ranging from hacking and computer
worms to denial-of-service attacks and website defacements to
create a single, advanced assault that overwhelms defences.
"Yesterday's strategy of 'one threat, one cure' is no longer viable
today," he added.
Len Hynds, head of the National High-Tech Crime Unit, warns that
organised crime is buying in to the digital skill set. "Organised
crime”, says Hynds,”Whatever its commodity, is driven by a desire
for profit, and often its Achilles' heel is its communications
processes.
"We are aware that organised crime is now using sophisticated
methods to make its communications more secure, and it will recruit
people to assist in the process.”
He points to a sharp rise in spoof sites mimicking financial
institutions and intended to trick customers into revealing their
account details and passwords. In the UK alone the number of cases
has risen to 40 this year in contrast with just seven in 2002, with
bogus websites becoming "far more sophisticated".
The question in the mind of law enforcement and IT security
directors alike, is whether increasing global investment in
computer security programmes and supporting legislation will
reverse the rapidly upward trend in computer crime?
In the near term, the outlook is far from positive, as both
technology and people remain easily exploitable by increasingly
expert criminals for amusement or profit. The digital equivalent of
The Great Train Robbery hasn’t happened yet, but for many
observers, it’s only a matter of time before it does and the
criminals involved may not have to flee to Rio or Riga, they’ll be
there already.
Setting the world to rights with the collected thoughts and
opinions of leading industry analyst Dr Simon Moores of
Zentelligence.
Acting globally, Zentelligence (Research) advises
governments, suppliers, business and the media on the evolution,
application and delivery of leading-edge technologies and
specialises in the areas of eGovernment and information
security.
For further information on Zentelligence and its research,
presentation and analyst services visitwww.zentelligence.com