Those of you interested and intrigued with malware will find a couple of newly released Sophos reports interesting.
Of the top ten malware for May some of the interesting statistics provided include:
- "Netsky-P worm remains the most widespread piece of malware spreading via email.
- Sophos identified 1,538 new threats in May, bringing the total of malware protected against to 122,634.
- The majority of the new threats (85.1%) were Trojan horses, while just 12.3% were worms or viruses.
- The proportion of email which is virus infected has dropped considerably over the last year as hackers have turned from mass-mailing attacks to targeted Trojan horses. In May 2005, one in every 38 emails was infected, now this number is just one in 141."
And a creative, new, unique malware, Arhiveus, is a type of ransomware that encrypts victims’ computer data, and then attempts to force users into making a purchase from an online pharmacy.
Well, if businesses would keep their data encrypted and backed up to begin with they would not need to worry about this ransomware, would they? This is a good example of how the cybercrooks are exploiting the human tendency and common business practice of not having adequate security implemented.
Oh, yes, and not only do encryption and making backups protect your data assets, they also demonstrate due diligence and contribute to compliance with a wide range of laws and regulations.
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