Why does malware spread so fast?
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It seems that nowadays cybercriminals prefer cash fun. Therefore, various types of malicious programs (viruses, worms, Trojan horses, etc.) very often to steal valuable – in a direct sense of this word – private and financial information. When written, these programs are spread all over the web.
What does the distribution have in common? Thinking a bit about it will help us to recognize ordinary Web users behave like the online and what to avoid.
LetLogic and good old common sense. What do you think are most suitable (for a criminal) means to distribute malicious code? The answer is almost obvious. It is something that first makes its anonymity and, secondly, offers victims (ie us) very little or no protection against malware. Last but not least – that means should be very cheap or, even better, free of charge.
(I'm going to refer, in which only the resources that each Internet-restricting endanger users. Not every exchange of data files orDownloads music and freeware. But is there anyone who does not send and receive e-mail or visit websites?)
Well, if you are a cyber criminals who wanted a malicious program spread quickly, and as far as possible, how would you distribute?
What first comes to mind? First, it is contaminated by sending spam e-mails. It is possible (and not too difficult for, say, enclose a programmer) to virtually everything in the plant. With effort, you can hire a programmer to create aMessage without attachments, which will infect a PC anyway.
Although many email service providers essential anti-virus to provide protection, they are not obligated to do so. How effective is this protection – that is another question.
In addition, spam is distributed very cheaply. Of course, spammers of all stripes have not allowed their own machines. Why should they? They prefer the remote PCs to control infection with a special program has been. Cyber-criminals to build large networks of theseMachines and rent them out to spammers. (The use of "bots" they are called "zombies" or "slave computer") returns an estimate of anonymity that spammers – get spam messages to PC users frustrated with IP addresses registered somewhere on the other side of the globe .
What other options are there? Sites. Malicious websites are very dangerous.Cybercriminals exclusively provide to run malicious code on the computers of visitors. Sometimes hackers infect legitimate sites withmalicious code.
When unsuspecting users visit malicious sites, various nasty applications downloaded and executed on the computer. Unfortunately, more often these applications contain
Stealing keyloggers – software programs for information.
Keyloggers, as they present themselves in the name of the program, you clearly keystrokes – but that's not all. They catch everything, so what the user – keystrokes, mouse clicks, files opened and closed, the pages visited. A little moresophisticated programs of this kind also capture text from windows and make screenshots (take everything on the screen) – so that the data collected, even if the user makes no input, opens only the views of the file.
Blogs can be infected with malware, too. In April, experts from Websense Security Labs warned users that they discovered hundreds of these "toxic" (contaminated with Malcode) Blogs by hackers. Blogs are suitable for them: There are large amounts offree space is not an identity authentication is required, to post, and there is no scan of posted files for viruses, worms and spyware, in most blog hosting services.
Three months passed, and here is the quote from a new Websense report published this Monday, 25th July: "Hackers are provided with free personal web hosting sites nationally and internationally-known ISPs to store their malicious code …" In July this year, Websense noted that these sites are used for this purposemuch more frequently. The company's senior director of security and technology research, said that "we found in the first two weeks alone together more cases than in May and June." In any case, it is a trend, and very disturbing.
Such sites are free and easy to create. With the average life of two to four days, they are difficult to trace. Free hosting services rarely provide even basic security tools. Ephemeral sites not to scan files for viruses, nothing prevents"Authors" form upload executable files – is not such an area an ideal tool for the dissemination of malicious code?
Anonymity of the creator – no end user protection – no cost. What can a cyber criminals want? Therefore, there was the outbreak of the "toxic blogs" quickly in April – and multiply infected websites so freely so now.
But like so many computers as possible contamination? It is the target of criminals, is not it? The more traffic, the more programs will land onComputer end-user. Hackers lure visitors to malicious websites by sending a link through spam or spim (analogous to spam for instant messaging (IM).
They are open in the search for new ways to give guests an attachment or click a link below to visit a certain website cool if people follow again and again, not on links in spam.
Only a few of their tricks – disguising infected emails as spam CNN news alerts, subject lines with "breaking news" such as "Osama bin Laden captured""Michael Jackson tried to commit suicide." How about naked celebrities? Click easy! And one of the newest, an "amateur video" that shows alleged London bombing sites.
These (and similar) tricks have become generally known as Social Engineering. Online criminals are good psychologists – the big money, online banking crime such as fraud are able to get them into serious students.
However, there is one thing that spoils the mood of those who spread malicious programs.
ToHacker deep "regret are the risks better than people who publish on the Internet. A study by the Pew Internet & American Life Project on July 6, shows that:
91% (!) The respondent (adult Internet users from the U.S.) changed their behavior online one way or another.
81% have become more cautious about e-mail attachments
48% have stopped visiting some websites claiming to stop malicious programs they house people, file-sharing software (25%) and evenStart with Mozilla, Firefox or another browser instead of Internet Explorer (18%)
Well done! Actually, it gives us no other course users, but to greater awareness of the dangers and cautious on the web. Every PC user needs to look for the information itself, to protect his own computer from a variety of data-stealing programs of all kinds
But do not believe that the protection against a variety of harmful programs should not only end users' private business? It is up to serviceProviders at least a basic protection for consumers and break this "triad" offer "(anonymity of the author – but little or) no end user protection – no or little cost to disseminate all this shit so easily possible.
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