Spam News

Cybercrimals to evolve in 2009

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

A new report released on Monday predicts cybercriminals utilizing more direct and creative attacks next year in ways that will make them harder to detect.

Instead of using infected attachments in emails, hackers are opting for more innovative tactics, which may originate from legitimate domains or email addresses, TechNewsWorld.com reports.

One of the main assets to cybercriminals will be the vulnerabilities in web browsers, according to the website. Some users have gotten a preview of this with the recent IE attacks where users only have to visit a certain website for a malicious Trojan program to download on their machine.

Another rising problem has been the ease for people to purchase information about new vulnerabilities through what has been described as a "web mafia," stated TechNewsWorld. This suggests a person doesn't have to be technically skilled to create havoc on the internet.

Recently, 2008 was declared a year of innovation for cybercriminals, with their ability to use legitimate email addresses as fronts by breaking CAPTCHA technology, as well as using evolving the use of botnets for more tailored attacks.

Also, despite the takedown of McColo in November, the report states that spam still accounts for nearly 90 percent of emails worldwide.