Report: Trojans Constituted More Than Half Of All New Threats In Third Quarter

PandaLabs, Panda Security's antimalware laboratory, recently published its Q3 Quarterly Report on global malware activity, covering security events and incidents from July to September. Continuing the theme from the last report, PandaLabs once again found Trojans in the spotlight, comprising 55 percent of all new threats. Infection via e-mail, traditionally the most popular vector for spreading malware, has declined in favor of greater use of social media. These include clickjacking attacks using the Facebook "Like" button, fake Web pages positioned on search engines (BlackHat SEO) and zero-day vulnerability exploits.

The rise in popularity of smart phones powered by Google's Android operating system for smart phones has been accompanied by an increase in attacks targeting these devices. A number of different threats have appeared, primarily aimed at racking up phone bills or using the geolocalization function to transmit a user's position to a third party.

There were few surprises in the quantity of malware reported: 55 percent of new threats created this quarter were Trojans, most of them banker Trojans. This is in line with the general increase in these types of threats that PandaLabs has witnessed over the last two years. In the ranking of countries and regions suffering the most infections, Taiwan heads the list, followed by Russia, Brazil, Argentina, Poland, and Spain.

Spam shows no sign of slowing either; 95 percent of all e-mail circulated across the Internet during the last quarter was junk mail and approximately 50 percent of all spam was sent from just ten countries, with India, Brazil and Russia as the top three originators. For the first time, the United Kingdom has disappeared from the Top 10 list of spammers.

A number of interesting security incidents have surfaced over the past few months. The "Here you Have" worm emerged in an apparent attempt to trigger a major epidemic, like those in the past caused by ILoveYou or Sircam;  responsibility for the worm has been claimed by an Iraqi resistance group.

There has also been a great deal of commotion around two serious zero-day flaws in Microsoft OS code, one of which was exploited to attack SCADA systems (specifically in, nuclear power stations).

Of particular interest to Panda was the arrest of the creator of the Butterfly botnet kit, the source of the notorious Mariposa network that impacted 13 million computers around the world almost a year ago. PandaLabs researchers were instrumental in both shutting down the botnet and identifying the individuals responsible for the botnet.

At the tail end of the quarter, an intriguing worm appeared on Twitter as a result of a Javascript vulnerability that enabled a cross-site scripting attack. In addition, 'Rainbow' or 'OnMouseOver' worms redirected users to Web pages or published Javascript in the user's Twitter stream without their permission or knowledge. Twitter was able to resolve the problem in just a few hours.

Over the past three months, PandaLabs also witnessed the beginning of a wave of threats targeting smart phones powered by Android, Google's mobile operating system. Two applications have been developed specifically for this platform: FakePlayer, which, under the guise of a video player, sends SMS messages that generate a hefty phone bill for unwitting victims; and TapSnake, an app disguised as a game which sends the geolocalization coordinates of the user to an espionage company. Legitimate Android apps are also being used as bait to infect computers with self-extracting files.

The full report can be downloaded from: http://press.pandasecurity.com/press-room/panda-white-paper/.

Featured

  • 12 Commercial Crime Sites to Do Your Research

    12 Commercial Crime Sites to Do Your Research

    Understanding crime statistics in your industry and area is crucial for making important decisions about your security budget. With so much information out there, how can you know which statistics to trust? Read Now

  • Boosting Safety and Efficiency

    Boosting Safety and Efficiency

    In alignment with the state of Mississippi’s mission of “Empowering Mississippi citizens to stay connected and engaged with their government,” Salient's CompleteView VMS is being installed throughout more than 150 state boards, commissions and agencies in order to ensure safety for thousands of constituents who access state services daily. Read Now

  • Live From GSX: Post-Show Review

    Live From GSX: Post-Show Review

    This year’s Live From GSX program was a rousing success! Again, we’d like to thank our partners, and IPVideo, for working with us and letting us broadcast their solutions to the industry. You can follow our Live From GSX 2023 page to keep up with post-show developments and announcements. And if you’re interested in working with us in 2024, please don’t hesitate to ask about our Live From programs for ISC West in March or next year’s GSX. Read Now

    • Industry Events
    • GSX
  • People Say the Funniest Things

    People Say the Funniest Things

    By all accounts, GSX version 2023 was completely successful. Apparently, there were plenty of mix-ups with the airlines and getting aircraft from the East Coast into Big D. I am all ears when I am in a gathering of people. You never know when a nugget of information might flip out. Read Now

    • Industry Events
    • GSX

Featured Cybersecurity

Webinars

New Products

  • Luma x20

    Luma x20

    Snap One has announced its popular Luma x20 family of surveillance products now offers even greater security and privacy for home and business owners across the globe by giving them full control over integrators’ system access to view live and recorded video. According to Snap One Product Manager Derek Webb, the new “customer handoff” feature provides enhanced user control after initial installation, allowing the owners to have total privacy while also making it easy to reinstate integrator access when maintenance or assistance is required. This new feature is now available to all Luma x20 users globally. “The Luma x20 family of surveillance solutions provides excellent image and audio capture, and with the new customer handoff feature, it now offers absolute privacy for camera feeds and recordings,” Webb said. “With notifications and integrator access controlled through the powerful OvrC remote system management platform, it’s easy for integrators to give their clients full control of their footage and then to get temporary access from the client for any troubleshooting needs.” 3

  • Mobile Safe Shield

    Mobile Safe Shield

    SafeWood Designs, Inc., a manufacturer of patented bullet resistant products, is excited to announce the launch of the Mobile Safe Shield. The Mobile Safe Shield is a moveable bullet resistant shield that provides protection in the event of an assailant and supplies cover in the event of an active shooter. With a heavy-duty steel frame, quality castor wheels, and bullet resistant core, the Mobile Safe Shield is a perfect addition to any guard station, security desks, courthouses, police stations, schools, office spaces and more. The Mobile Safe Shield is incredibly customizable. Bullet resistant materials are available in UL 752 Levels 1 through 8 and include glass, white board, tack board, veneer, and plastic laminate. Flexibility in bullet resistant materials allows for the Mobile Safe Shield to blend more with current interior décor for a seamless design aesthetic. Optional custom paint colors are also available for the steel frame. 3

  • AC Nio

    AC Nio

    Aiphone, a leading international manufacturer of intercom, access control, and emergency communication products, has introduced the AC Nio, its access control management software, an important addition to its new line of access control solutions. 3