New Virus Host - Online Cash Schemes

January 23, 2010

Nairobi — Online money making schemes are the latest means by which viruses and other malicious software will spread across the Internet, says Internet security firm Kaspersky Lab in its forecast of global Internet threats for 2010.
The warning comes as the region anticipates intense Internet activity following its linkage to two undersea fibre optic cables last year.
This is expected to translate into a significant increase in the number of Internet users who will not only be vulnerable to such attacks but can also be used to spread them.
Kaspersky foresees an emergence of grey schemes in the botnet services market using "partner programs" that would see botnet owners make a profit from their deals without committing an explicit crime.
The report stated that the change of tack by cybercriminals expected this year involves a marked shift from attacks generated from infected websites and applications, to those produced from file sharing networks.
It is feared that there could be an upsurge in these kinds of attacks on peer to peer networks.
In 2009, a series of mass malware epidemics were supported by malicious files that are spread via Torrent portals.
The Kaspersky Lab analysts states that 2010 will see a decline of fake antivirus programmes that first made an appearance in 2007 and peaked in 2009.
"The fake antivirus market has now been saturated and the profits for cybercriminals have fallen," they said in the report.
Moreover, this kind of activity is being closely monitored by both IT security companies and law enforcement agencies. This makes it increasingly difficult to create and distribute fake antivirus programmes.
Sophisticated malware
The director of Kaspersky Lab's global research and analysis team Alex Gostev said: "Malware will become much more sophisticated in 2010 and many antivirus programmes will be slow to treat infected computers due to advanced file infection methods and rootkit technologies."
Mr Gostev said that IT security companies had to respond by developing even more complex protection tools, even though the malicious programmes capable of bypassing these measures will remain more or less immune to antivirus programmes for some time.
The report stated that attacks on web services will intensify in 2010. These attacks would follow the usual pattern of first sending of spam, followed by phishing attacks, then exploiting vulnerabilities and spreading of malware.
Though the experts hailed the planned launch of the network-based Chrome Operating System slated for this year, they warned that the open source operating system that has been developed by Google might not attract much interest from cybercriminals.
Increased attacks
The Kaspersky report warned of increased attacks on Internet mobile phone platforms such as the iPhone and Android in 2010.
However, they said that while all Android users are vulnerable to attack by several high profile malware outbreaks, only iPhone users with compromised devices are at risk.
The report stated that detection of new vulnerabilities in both software developed by third parties (such as Adobe) and in Windows 7, the new operating system that has just entered the market would remain the main cause of epidemics.
Kaspersky Lab managing director Garry Kondakov said that the increasing access to the Internet is expected to predispose the region to cyber crime and IT managers must be prepared.
"Until recently, cybercriminals did not focus on African users because of the slow Internet connection links. However, with the landing of Seacom, this is set to change and African IT managers must be prepared for it," Mr Kondakov said.