Wired.com is reporting that 2007 has been a very good year indeed for cyber criminals. The problem is that the Web continues to grow at an astronomical rate, making enforcement of law and order a difficult issue online.
The increase in cybercrime in 2007 demonstrates that the “bad guys” are getting smarter and more organized in their attacks. Antivirus companies recorded a record 250,000 new distinct virus signatures this year (so far). And more and more, computer malware and spyware is the product of professional and well-organized criminals, not simply malicious teenage hackers.
F-Secure, an online antivirus vendor, released their year-end report a few days ago, outlining the sharp rise in professionally-developed malware and spyware viruses. The newest threat? “Morphing” viruses that change their appearance and signature sometimes as often as every five minutes. These types of viruses are the most difficult to protect against, since antivirus programs such as Norton or McAfee must struggle to keep up with their constantly mutating variations.
2007 was also the year that organized crime took to the Internet in force. In particular, an organized Eastern European “Web Mafia” wreaked havoc on many legitimate web sites, finding increasingly clever ways to benefit from computer spyware and malware.
Seven or eight years ago, the majority of so-called “black hat†hackers were in it for the notoriety, and the sheer malicious pleasure of finding new ways to rain on other people’s online parade. But in 2007, the hacking is strictly business, and is showing a level of sophistication and organization unknown in the early days of the Internet.
The other big cybercrime story of 2007 was the rise of the so-called Botnets. Botnet’s are networks of computers that have been compromised by hackers and are used to send spam or phishing e-mails remotely, or launch attacks on legitimate sites.
One Botnet in particular, known as Rockphish, was successfully used to create phony banking web sites that were extremely difficult to target and take down by the authorities because of their constantly changing online locations.
Another notorious Botnet to inflict severe damage in 2007 was the so-called “Storm Botnet.” This scam sent e-mails claiming to contain news about current events, ranging from severe storms to sports scores. By tricking the user into opening the e-mail, the Storm Botnet was able to install various malware programs on the user’s computer.
The scale and veracity of the Botnet’s is clear evidence of a criminal organization at work. An Eastern European organized crime group is suspected of unleashing the viruses, however, experts theorize that the group must have at least a few agents working within the United States, as the overwhelming majority of their attacks are aimed at US computer users.
Although antivirus companies are working feverishly to combat this latest rash of online criminal activity, at this point they appear to be well behind in the race. But as world governments become more involved in the problem, you can expect to see a sharp crack down on cybercrimes. It is only a matter of time until several of these new cybercrime organizations are brought to justice.
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