McAfee Releases Third Quarter 2010 Threats Report

McAfee released their quarterly Threats Report this week and discovered some new trends and threats in malware and cybercrime. The report uncovered that average daily malware growth has reached its highest levels. An average of 60,000 new pieces of malware are identified each day, almost quadrupling since 2007. McAfee identified more than 14 million unique pieces of malware in 2010, one million more than the same quarter last year. On the other hand, spam levels decreased in volume and hit a two year low this quarter, both globally and in local geographies.

Zeus botnet is one of the most sophisticated pieces of malware in Q3. It caused U.S. small businesses to lose $70 million at the hands of Ukrainian cybercriminals. Most recently, cybercriminals unleashed a Zeus botnet intercepting SMS messages to validate transactions. The criminal can then perform all bank transactions and steal funds from their victims. McAfee also saw an increase in email campaigns attempting to deliver the Zeus botnet, under the disguise of the following recognized organization names: eFAX, FedEx, Internal Revenue Service, Social Security Administration, United States Postal Service and Western Union.

Attacks on social media, such as Koobface and AutoRun malware, have leveled off but have not ended cybercriminal manipulation. Twitter, for example, provides an attacker with information on the most popular terms and trends being discussed. Shortened URL services hide website destinations, disguising malicious links targeted at users searching for these popular terms. In Q3, 60 percent of the top Google search terms returned malicious sites within the first 100 results.

Mike Gallagher, senior vice president and chief technology officer at Global Threat Intelligence for McAfee says: “Our Q3 Threat report shows that cybercriminals are not only becoming savvier, but attacks are becoming increasingly more severe. Cybercriminals are doing their homework, and are aware of what’s popular, and what’s insecure. They are attacking mobile devices and social networking sites, so education about user activity online, as well as incorporating the proper security technologies are of utmost importance.”

For a full copy of the Q3 2010 Threats Report, please visit: www.mcafee.com/Q3_Threat_Report

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