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Some familiar security threats are finally on the wane. And that's bad news for organizations seeking to safeguard their sensitive information.
As cybercriminals abandon adware, key-loggers, and other simple exploits, they're harnessing techniques that are harder to detect and a lot more sophisticated—all in an attempt to make off with more confidential data than ever before.
Statistics indicate that they're succeeding. The FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center says that cybercriminals took in their largest haul ever—nearly $240 million, or about 20% more than in 2006—even though the total number of online scams stayed about the same.
The spike in dollar amounts also underscores the evolution of cybercrime. These days, attacks are less likely to originate with hackers bent on making mischief or gaining notoriety. Instead, they're launched by well-organized groups with global reach and a hunger for profit, as stolen data now fuels a thriving underground economy.
And that should make security professionals especially nervous. While security solutions have become better able to defend against "traditional" spyware and virus attacks, today's cybercrime rings have shown a remarkable ability to adapt—devising elaborate social engineering tricks, building extensive and elusive botnets, or combining exploits into "blended threats" that are much more difficult to thwart.
How can solution providers help their customers stay safe in this challenging security environment? By getting up to speed on today's emerging threats.
Phishing: Forget Nigerian money scams and U.K. lottery prizes. Cybercriminals have responded to the growing savvy of users by putting a fresh spin on a familiar technique: They mimic the language of legitimate e-mails that warn of phishing scams—inviting recipients to "update" their security via a link that in fact leads them to a fraudulent site. Voice phishing, or vishing, is also becoming more sophisticated. The latest versions of this attack use convincing, cleverly disguised e-mails to lure recipients into calling a fake phone number to "reactivate" accounts or reveal passwords and bank card numbers.
Web 2.0 exploits: Social networking sites are as popular with cybercriminals as they are with legitimate users—but for different reasons. The interactive nature of such sites makes it easy to sow confusion and trick users into downloading Trojans and other malware hidden in codecs, video players, and other utilities.
Infected Web pages: Cybercriminals have learned how to exploit vulnerabilities in Web code to infect the sites of legitimate, well-known brands—creating pages and content that can hide dangerous malware. In January 2008, thousands of pages on sites belonging to Fortune 500 companies, government agencies, and educational institutions were hit by a large SQL injection attack.
Fast-flux: There's a reason why Storm and other botnets remain difficult to locate and dismantle. Their creators have mastered the use of "fast-flux," a technique that uses distributed command-and-control and proxy redirection to rapidly switch DNS server addresses. The longer a botnet (or, for that matter, a phishing delivery server) stays hidden, the greater the likelihood that data will be stolen.
Still, there's some good news that solution providers can pass on to their customers. Even as cybercriminals adapt to the times and technology, companies should continue to stress education and training for their employees: A big part of keeping data safe is knowing how to recognize the emerging threats—and thus taking steps that can mitigate against the dangers. Companies should also supplement that effort by deploying security technology optimized to guard against these exploits.
Cybercriminals will always try to stay one step ahead. But organizations that stay abreast of emerging threats put themselves in much better position to protect themselves.
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