Forecast for 2009: Surge in crisis-driven cybercrime
By Ma'ayan Cohen
Have you received an e-mail promising a sweet mortgage or a job? Watch out. Data-security warrior Symantec predicts a wave of spam tracking job Web sites as the financial crisis bites households.
The "Nigerian scam" promising you millions of dollars in exchange for a paltry investment of a few hundred or thousand is old hat. The latest wrinkle in cybercrime will be driven by the financial crisis, predicts Symantec in its monthly "State of Spam" report for December.
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In fact, it's already happening: Innumerable e-mail attacks offer financial opportunities and "sure-fire" investments, aside from the usual inundation of "adult" e-mails suggesting ways to increase the size of your trouser snake.
Symantec predicts oceans of e-mails offering you "easy" mortgages and scams targeting people whose property has been seized or attached. Another wave of scam mails will offer well-paying work from home, thanks to online scammers tracking job sites.
The purpose of the cyber criminals can be to gain access to your computer or even steal your identity, which is known as phishing. After stealing your username and password, the hackers can gain access to your bank and investment accounts, among other things.
Symantec also predicts intensifying security threats to information-technology companies based on workers nervous about their jobs surfing social network sites, which people increasingly do from work. Here the hackers' goal may be to steal the workers' passwords to obtain access to companies' computer systems.
Anti-spam technologies became smarter this year, yet spammers evolved too. Phishing remained common in 2008. Hackers took advantage of major events such as the U.S. presidential elections to make their "bait" more believable.
This year Barack Obama, John McCain and the Olympic Games were all prime targets of malicious e-mails, for example. Only one example is spam leading to fake Web sites soliciting donations for the presidential candidates or a cause. Some spam e-mails send a tempting link when you click on them: Your computer is exposed to malware - a virus, worm or Trojan horse, which are all variations on a theme.
Despite the development of anti-spamming systems, Symantec predicts a 75% to 80% increase in spam volume. Companies will have to improve their control and monitoring systems, but as companies (and governments) offer more services online, and as browsers continue to unify their standards, the number of Web-based threats will grow, the company predicts.
Symantec's researchers note that the constant growth of data breaches renders data backups and retrieval systems all the more crucial, especially in this time as companies consolidate and pare back.
And beware of humor designed to entrap or thrill. No, Britney Spears hasn't taken up the sport of dwarf tossing and don't click on an e-mail telling you she has. And even if you snore, don't assume that an online doctor can save your marriage at one click.
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