Where in the World do Viruses Come From ?

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The U.S. and Brazil continued their output of spam and viruses through August, although levels have dropped slightly since July, according to security vendor Network Box.

virus antivirus securityAn analysis of Internet threats by Network Box in August 2009 shows that the volume of malware, which peaked in July (when volumes increased by 300 per cent), are down again at levels seen in June (around four viruses per customer, per hour). Spam is also down slightly, averaging around 90 spam e-mails per customer, per hour (from a peak of around 120 in May).

The U.S. continues to dominate as the main source of the world's viruses, producing 15.9 per cent of all viruses. It is followed closely by Brazil, which produces 14.5 per cent (similar levels to last month's 14.1 per cent).

Brazil continues to be the biggest source of spam, producing 11.6 per cent of all spam, followed by the US at 8.6 per cent and South Korea at 7.2 per cent.

South Korea remains the biggest source of intrusion attacks, at 17.3 per cent.

Phishing attacks also remain high, at 33 per cent of all viruses. This is down slightly from last month's 36.2 per cent, but still significantly higher than in June, when phishing attacks made up just five per cent of all viruses. (See also "Can You Trust Free Antivirus Software?")

Patches prevent infections

Meanwhile, Network Box lowered its global alert condition to Level 2, saying it has been the lowest in nine months. This means there are limited virus/worm activities, with no major unexploited vulnerabilities or threats.

Mark Webb-Johnson, CTO of Network Box, said: "The large number of recent vulnerabilities announced by both Microsoft and Apple led to a frenzy of malware activity spearheaded by an unprecedented large number of website defacements. What we're now seeing is that those who have already patched are protected and those that haven't are already infected -- so the number of new infections appears to have levelled off."

Simon Heron, Internet security analyst for Network Box, added: "Businesses and individuals still need to be alert to threats through the remainder of the summer, particularly phishing attacks. We've seen a huge increase in SQL injection attacks so it's important that anyone using Web-based applications or servers keeps their security up-to-date."

While threat landscape currently remains stable, Network Box said it will continue to closely monitor and re-evaluate the situation as necessary, especially with Microsoft's Patch Tuesday coming next week.

Cyber crime up 50 per cent

Cyber crime up 50 per cent
The National Crime Records Bureau has revealed that there has been a 50 per cent jump in cyber crime between 2006 and 2007; that 60 per cent offenders are between 10 and 30; and that Bhopal accounts for 87.8 per cent of the crimes.
Delhi Police have now trained 100 of its officers in handling cyber crime and placed them in its Economic Offenses Win

Cyber-crime is a key concern in India

Cyber-crime is perceived to be a critical threat by Indian businesses and its biggest impact is in terms of loss of revenue, a global survey on cyber-crimes and their impact on businesses, has revealed. The survey highlights the findings on 150 Indian businesses compared to the global as a whole. It throws light on whether cyber-crimes pose a greater threat to organisations than physical crimes and brings into focus other important security aspects.

Data collected by 3,000 worldwide information security professionals, thousands of monitored devices and strategic security business partners found that cyber-crime is a critical threat for Indian businesses. It also revealed that cyber-crime’s biggest impact in India was on loss of revenue.

Organisations in action : Government organisations and BFSI are investing more in prevention of cyber-crime so as to avoid phishing, hacking, and virus attacks. Private sector banks have taken steps to go beyond firewalls and provide security using new technologies like identity management software to win the confidence of their customers.

Cyber-crime costlier

Both cyber-crime and physical crime are viewed as considerable threats by Indian and global businesses. 44 percent of Indian businesses perceive cyber-crime as a bigger threat than physical crime (31percent) to their business, while 40 percent of the global businesses feel the same.

When it comes to the cost impact, 67 percent of IT executives in India think cyber-crime proves more expensive to their organisations than physical crime (31 percent). Globally, 58 percent of businesses believe cyber-crime to be more expensive, while 42 percent feel physical crime is.

The cyber-crime threat now comes from a number of new areas. IT executives in India (91 percent) and global businesses (84 percent) believe that organised criminal groups possessing technical sophistication are replacing lone hackers. The threat from unprotected systems in developing countries is also emerging, according to 65 percent of Indian businesses (compared to 63 percent of global businesses). 78 percent of Indian businesses (compared to 66 percent of global businesses) perceive that corporate security is more at risk from inside the organisation. Over two-thirds (69 percent) of Indian businesses believe they are adequately safeguarded against organised cyber-crime (compared to 59 percent of global businesses).