The number of viruses, malicious malwares and worms being written seems to be ever increasing, yet the time it takes for a PC to become infected by one of these is dropping. A research report from a security firm has claimed the internet a virus mine-field becoming more dangerous by the day.
Research conducted by anti-virus solution company, Sophos has found that there is now a 50 per cent chance for an unprotected, unpatched Windows' PCs being infected by an internet worm within 12 minutes of being online.
Meanwhile, the company has also detected 7944 new viruses in the first six months of 2005, a 59 per cent increase compared to the same period last year.
"Financial gain rather than individual notoriety has become more of a motivation," said Seam Richmond, senior technical consultant at Sophos Australia and New Zealand. "Spammers and virus writers have been drawn together with more traditional criminal elements."
According to the Sophos report, computer security threats are rapidly consolidating, blurring the lines between spam, spyware, phishing and viruses.
"This is producing higher numbers of threats targeted at all points of entry to the organisation."
Another security threat on the rise is Trojan horses. Trojans are delivered to target organisations via email attachments or links to websites. They are often used by remote hackers to steal privileged information and very often, to launch further attacks. In June, a NISCC investigation found that government departments and businesses in Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States were the subject of organised Trojan horse attacks.
"The growth in Trojan horses is perhaps the most significant development in malware-writing," said Graham Cluley, Senior Technology Consultant at Sophos's UK headquarters. "What we are witnessing is a stampede of new Trojan horses every day. Trojans are increasingly being used for targeted attacks designed to make money or steal information."
Sophos has reported a threefold increase in the number of key-logging Trojans so far this year.
