Internet malware is growing at a faster rate than ever before. That’s the message from CenturyLink’s security partner, F-Secure Security Lab, which is analyzing and responding to Internet threats around the clock, 365 days a year. In addition to the explosion of growth, there is also clear evidence of the increasing sophistication of malware, as well as the professionalism of the criminals who are creating it.

More Sophisticated Malware

In order to maximize the return on their investment, Internet criminals are now utilizing highly complex IT infrastructure and systems, which provides them with the power to silently flood the Internet with their menace.  Many of these systems, such as the Mebroot and Storm worms, are very challenging to detect, as well as programmed to fight back against detection.

Bagle is one of the most prevalent pieces of malware in computer history.  The email worm flooded computers worldwide via email messages, which had a signature subject field message “Hi” and an EXE attachment with a calculator icon. When the recipient clicked on the EXE attachment, the worm spread further while at the same time running the Windows Calculator application in an apparent attempt to fool the user.  The worm then collected email addresses aggressively from all local and network drives searching through every text, HTML file and address book file and sending a copy of itself to each address with the exception of Microsoft, MSN or Hotmail.

Targeted Attacks

Another significant trend in Internet crime observed by the Security Lab has been the growing number of targeted malware attacks on individuals, companies and organizations. In a targeted malware attack, the attacker profiles the victim and sends an email using the recipient’s name, title, and perhaps references to his or her job function. The message content is typically something that the recipient would expect to receive via email.

Taken in by this confidence trick, the recipient opens what seems like an ordinary attachment, such as a Word or PDF document which infects the computer. Often this creates a backdoor that gives the attacker access to the information stored on the computer, without any outward sign of infection. Today’s malware is more devious than ever, making protection against these silent and invisible threats all the more necessary.

Courtesy of F-Secure