Spyware infection rates return to peak 2004 levels

[Al-khiyal]

Spyware infection rates have risen to the highest levels since 2004 when the Internet security scourge was at its supposed peak, according to the latest State of Spyware report issued today by Webroot Software, the leading anti-spyware developer.

During the second quarter of 2006, Webroot researchers found that 89 percent of consumer PCs were infected with an average of 30 pieces of spyware - a slight increase from the first quarter of 2006 when infection rates returned to alarmingly high levels after a supposed lull in spyware infections during the second half of 2005. According to the report, new distribution channels, advanced spyware technologies and a reliance on free anti-spyware programs are all contributing factors to the startling increase.

In the report, Webroot details how spyware purveyors are capitalizing on the popularity of social networking sites like MySpace to reach new victims while spammers have recognized the extra profitability offered by adding spyware programs to their email scams. Spyware criminals are also flooding the Internet with an increased number of malicious spyware websites in hopes of garnering new victims. Using Phileas V, the next generation of Webroot's automated spyware research system, Webroot to date has identified 527,136 malicious websites. This number marks a substantial increase during the last quarter as the number of identified websites at the close of the first quarter of 2006 was 427,000.

At the same time, spyware criminals continue to rely on the most advanced spyware technologies to reel in new victims. With many PC users still relying on free anti-spyware programs, spyware purveyors are able to easily avoid detection using advanced spyware programs like rootkits, Trojan downloaders, keyloggers and driver-level installers. During the last quarter alone, Webroot saw the infection rate of Trojans among consumer PCs rise to 31 percent - up from 29 percent during the first quarter of 2006 and 24 percent during the last quarter of 2005. Additionally, Webroot found more than 1 million traces of the most prevalent Trojan, Trojan-Downloader-Zlob during the second quarter.

"Less than a year ago, many so-called Internet security experts began claiming that spyware was on the decline and that infection rates would soon drop to the point of extinction. While the infection rates at that time seemingly supported this theory, the data we have culled during the past six months unequivocally show that spyware is anything but extinct," said C. David Moll, CEO of Webroot Software. "Spyware is a financially motivated threat and as long as there is a dollar to be had, cyber criminals will do everything possible to steal it. It is imperative that PC users deploy a proven anti-spyware solution that offers proactive protection against the most advanced spyware technologies."

Enterprises were not immune from spyware attacks either as evidenced by the more than 40 security breeches reported by enterprises during the last quarter. With industry experts estimating that 70 percent of corporations use an anti-spyware solution, the steady infection rates among enterprises suggest that these deployed anti-spyware solutions may be inadequate. Additionally, Webroot found that infection rates for the most damaging types of spyware - system monitors and Trojans - remained steady during the last two quarters.

Webroot also found that spyware is reaching the farthest parts of the world and across each continent. During the second quarter of 2006, Puerto Rico had the highest number of spies detected: 42.6 per scanned PC. Algeria and Bahrain also had high infection rates with 38.4 per scanned PC and 35.7, respectively. For the most malicious threats, the Dominican Republic had the highest infection rates for Trojans at 1,099 per 1,000 PCs scanned and Yemen had the highest rate of system monitors with 426 per 1,000 PCs scanned.

The State of Spyware report is issued quarterly as an in-depth review and analysis of the impact of spyware, adware and unwanted software on consumers and enterprises. The foundation for much of the analysis and trends reporting comes from Webroot's consumer and corporate SpyAudit tools and from online research culled by Phileas, Webroot's automated spyware research system. The SpyAudit tools invite both consumers and enterprises to scan specific PCs and determine spyware infection levels.

The complete State of Spyware report is available at www.webroot.com/sosreporthome.

Spyware infection rates return to peak 2004 levels according to Webroot State of Spyware report

[Al-khiyal]

INTERNET users in Bahrain are being targeted by criminals who steal information - such as credit card details - by sending "spies" into individual computers. Bahrain ranks fourth out of 95 countries and the highest in the GCC in terms of spyware infection rates.

On average, any individual, Internet-linked computer in Bahrain will be infected by around 36 spyware bugs at any one time - all feeding vital information to cyber crooks.

Internet users in Bahrain are particularly vulnerable because they lack awareness when it comes to protecting themselves from criminals online, says a leading information and communication technology (ICT) expert.

Co-operative action must be taken to bring the country up to date with the rest of the world when it comes to information technology, says Bahraini expert Waheed Al Balushi, who is the former president of the Union of Arab ICT Associations.

He was reacting to the latest global report released by US-based Internet security solutions company Webroot Software, which says Bahrain has the highest spyware infection rate of any GCC country.

Bahrain comes fourth out of 95 countries for spyware infections, just after Yemen, Puerto Rico and Algeria.

Spyware applications monitor user activity on the Internet and transmit information, such as passwords and credit card details, to the fast growing number of criminals online.

Spyware is known to also gather information about e-mail addresses.

Similar to a Trojan horse virus, users unwittingly install spyware in their computers when they install something else - which could be from a variety of "free" programmes widely available online.

These programmes include offers to download free search tool bars for Internet Explorer and smiley-faces or 'emoticons', to brighten up your chat.

Often they are marketed to Internet surfers as "must haves" and promise things such as improving their browsing speed and preventing pop-up ads.

"This study shows that there is a lack of awareness in Bahrain when it comes to protecting ourselves from spyware," said Mr Al Balushi.

"Spyware is a new thing in general. Ask people here what a spyware is and I bet many won't know what it is.

"Nobody knows who is responsible for this.

"There should be co-operative action by the government and Internet service providers like Batelco to do some kind of real awareness work.

"They could get the local media involved, as well as non-governmental organisations and even the governorates in each area."

Mr Al Balushi said that due to the lack of information available to Internet users in Bahrain about the spyware issue, people are not aware of how serious this problem is.

Spyware is highly profitable for online villains, who according to Webroot steal billions of dollars every year from unsuspecting computer users and corporations around the world.

Webroot's study, which took six months and covered 95 countries, was based on an international survey of enterprise and consumer personal computers.

In each country, the company scanned between 500 to 1,000 computers.

It found that on average, out of all the computers scanned in Bahrain, individual computers were infected with 35.7 "spies".

Yemen had the highest rate of system monitors of any country in the world, with an average of 426 spywares per computer.

Puerto Rico had a 42.6 average, while Algeria had a 38.6 average.

After Bahrain, the Dominican Republic followed with a 35.1 average per computer scanned.

Looking at the 95 countries, the average number of spy traces found was 24.5.

"The fact that this study states that Bahrain is in the top five list of the most infected computers in the world is very alarming," said Mr Al Balushi.

"Something needs to be done and soon."

The same study states that the majority of spyware 'hosts' are found to be based in the US, with more than 67 per cent of exploits originating from there.

This is followed by Germany, with more than 7pc and the UK with just over 6pc.

"The data we have culled during the past six months unequivocally shows that spyware is anything but extinct," Webroot chief executive C David Moll said in a statement.

"Spyware is a financially motivated threat and as long as there is a dollar to be had, cyber criminals will do everything possible to steal it."

Mr Al Balushi said that one way to protect your computer would be to install an anti-spyware programme, which is now widely available in the market.

"A lot of the dependable anti-virus programmes can be expanded to become anti-spyware programmes," he said.

"But people must always be cautious and only install programmes from dependable companies, like Norton and McAfee.

"These programmes are not costly."

Webroot warned that free anti-spyware programmes used by most of the public might not be fully capable of detecting spies that uses advanced techniques.

The company's report suggests that new distribution channels, advanced spyware technologies and a reliance on free anti-spyware programmes are all contributing factors to the increase of computer infections.

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[Cheba_Mami]

intersting. i already have anti spyware stuff and i payed for it it was not expensive though....