Cybercriminals fight turf war

Malware authors are competing with each other to create large networks of spam-generating computers and innocent surfers worldwide are being caught in the battle, according to security experts.

Kaspersky Lab's report, Malware Evolution: January – March 2007, claims that the people behind well-known viruses such as Warezov, Zhelatin and Bagle are engaged in a fierce war to create an army of 'botnets' - a network of PCs that can be controlled remotely to send unsolicited emails in vast quantities.

A botnet can then be sold to criminal and spamming gangs who can use them to send marketing and promotional materials as well as more malware.

Alexander Gostev, a senior virus analyst at Kapsersky Lab, said: “The authors of these worms are really pushing themselves. They are creating new, ever-more sophisticated techniques in order to evade virus filters, infect clean machines and usurp any rival worm already installed on a PC."

This means that security firms and home users need to be especially careful.

“As late as at the end of 2006, antivirus companies were occupied with combating attacks from a single group; now we’re fighting a war on three fronts. The complexity and scale of the task has increased enormously,” Gostev said.

Gostev was also critical of Microsoft's latest operating system, Windows Vista, which he says is no better than previous versions of Windows in terms of security.

“Windows Vista is no different from previous versions of Windows, in terms of vulnerabilities; it appears that Microsoft’s much-touted security innovations are not all that they’re cracked up to be,” said Gostev.

http://www.kaspersky.co.uk/

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