Tuesday, September 20, 2005
A new report out by the Symantec security firm shows attackers are now less interested in notoriety and more motivated by profit. The company's Internet Security Threat Report, which comes out twice a year, shows hackers and other miscreants are more often quietly targeting individual PCs where they can pinch personal information. That's a shift from the showy vandalism attacks like CodeRed and Blaster that give some geeks their jollies. The report finds almost three quarters of the top 50 viruses and other attacks are trying to get at confidential information. About one in every 125 email messages Symantec reviewed for the study was a phishing scheme, aimed at duping computer users into giving away bank account numbers or other personal information.
Symantec's Senior Manager for Security Response Patrick Martin says the jump in electronic fraud attempts indicates the key motivation is money.
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