Criminals target viruses for cash

At first glance 2005 looks like it was a quiet year for computer security because there were far fewer serious Windows virus outbreaks than in 2004.

According to figures gathered by security firm Symantec, there were 33 serious outbreaks in 2004. These are incidents measured by the number of people a virus infects or the severity of the damage they inflict.

In 2005, there were only six such incidents.

'We're talking about a substantial decrease in worldwide pandemics,' said Kevin Hogan, senior manager in Symantec's security response team.

This decline is taking place because virus makers have largely stopped spreading their malicious wares with mass-mailers that try to infect as many people as possible via their inbox.

Instead, virus creators are cranking out more versions of malicious programs than ever before.

The malicious hackers are also keen to replenish the ranks of the viruses circulating online as fixes are found for previous versions.

It also marks a tactical change toward more customised attacks. Instead of trying to infect everyone, many virus creators are creating variants that attack small groups of users.

Sometimes these are customers of particular companies, often banks, and occasionally they are the workers in a single organisation.

Smaller groups are being targeted because many of the groups sending out viruses are criminals keen to profit from the machines they compromise.

Links:
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