China now hosts the lion’s share of zombie botnet
computers which are used to spread malware and launch phishing
scams around the world.
The latest six-month
Internet Security
Threat Report released by Symantec reveals that the current
internet threat environment is characterised by an increase in data
theft, data leakage, and the creation of targeted malicious code
for the purpose of stealing confidential information.
Symantec said cyber criminals are continuing to refine their
attack methods in an attempt to remain undetected, and to create
global, cooperative networks to support the ongoing growth of
criminal activity.
While the majority of attacks are still originating from the US,
said Symantec, the largest amount of machines used to start many of
them are located in China.
Symantec identified the countries with the highest amount of
malicious activity originating from their networks. The US had the
highest proportion of overall malicious activity, with 31%, and
China was second, with 10%. Germany was third with 7%.
Symantec reported more than six million bot-infected computers
worldwide during the second half of 2006, representing a 29%
increase from the previous period.
While the US remained the number one rogue state in terms of
cyber-crime activity, Symantec said 26% of all zombie computers
were located in China, the highest total by far.
Trojans constituted 45% of the top 50 malicious code samples,
representing a 23% increase over the first six months of 2006. This
significant increase supports Symantec’s forecast from previous
research, which noted that attackers appeared to be making a shift
away from mass mailing worms toward using Trojans.
Symantec documented 12 zero-day vulnerabilities during the
second half of 2006, marking a significant increase from the one
zero-day vulnerability documented in the first half of 2006,
increasing the exposure of consumers and businesses to unknown
threats.
Over the last six months of 2006, Symantec detected a total of
166,248 unique phishing messages, an average of 904 per day,
marking a 6% rise over the first six months of 2006.
China makes worm arrests
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