Security firm Sophos has revealed that the United States still retains its position as Spam leader. Cina is clse on heels, the firm reported. "The US remains a hot spot for online criminal activity, and despite authorities' continued efforts to clamp down on cyber crime, too many US-hosted web sites... |
Security firm Sophos has revealed that the United States still retains its position as Spam leader. Cina is clse on heels, the firm reported. "The US remains a hot spot for online criminal activity, and despite authorities' continued efforts to clamp down on cyber crime, too many US-hosted websites still have lax security measures in place," said Carole Theriault, senior security consultant for Sophos. "Given the effectiveness of web-based attacks, web hosting companies in the US and elsewhere need to step up their policing of published content, and ensure that malicious code is quickly removed, before innocent users get hit."
"The U.S. market is undeniably a target for online criminal activity," Ron O'Brien, senior security analyst for Sophos, said in a statement. "More and more, organisations with U.S.-based Web sites are falling victim to targeted attacks."
"Cyber criminals are seeking new ways to distribute malware and the Web seems to be the logical environment as mounting applications and social sites keep end users active on the Internet," O'Brien noted.
E-mail Threats Decline while Malicious Web Content Grows
Sophos found that the most prolific e-mail threats during 2006 were the Mytob, Netsky, Sober and Zafi families of worms, which together accounted for more than 75% of all infected e-mail. However, Sophos predicts that 2007 is likely to see a significant shift away from the use of e-mail security threats, with cyber criminals instead looking to exploit the continued global growth in web use, as well as user-defined web content.
E-mail will continue to be an important vector for malware authors, though the increasing adoption of e-mail gateway security is making hackers turn to other routes for infection. The number of websites being infected with malware is on the rise SophosLabs is currently uncovering an average of 5,000 new URLs hosting malicious code each day.
"The internet now represents the easiest way for cyber criminals to gain entry to corporate networks, as more users are accessing unregulated sites, downloading applications and streaming audio/video, potentially jeopardising security in the process," continued Theriault. "A great many businesses aren't geared up to gain insight into users' online behaviour, let alone control it, and it's vital that they now begin to examine ways to incorporate web security into their overall IT security strategy."
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