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IM Threats Getting Out Of Hand
Chris Crum
Staff Writer
2006-01-03
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IM security company Akonix Systems announced that December 2005 had the most new parent worms in any given month since its Security Center team began tracking in early 2000.
Akonix says that this is a clear indication that more virus developers are choosing IM as the primary choice to propagate payloads.
In fact, in 2005 alone, Akonix Security Center issued 233 SPIM and malware filter updates after only issuing 8 the previous year. According to a press release from Akonix:
New viruses identified in December include Aimdes, Attech, Bandra, Dinoxi, Mesoto, MSNBancos, Retomo, Sunk and Yimper. The most common attack was the Kelvir worm, targeting two of the major public IM networks, which had twelve variants. Overall, there were 40 attacks against IM networks in December, a 36% decrease from the all time high of 62 recorded in November.
December also saw a Christmas holiday greeting card worm propagating over IM and a password stealing Trojan that looked for certain bank transactions in Spanish speaking countries. Attacks on P2P networks, such as Kazaa and eDonkey, continued with 19 new attacks reported.
"The 2,800% increase in SPIM and malware updates issued by the Akonix Security Center from 2004 to 2005 is a staggering figure, proving IM is a hugely popular medium for virus writers to launch their attacks," said Don Montgomery, vice president of marketing at Akonix Systems.
"If organizations don't have IM security in place already, it must be top of CXOs' New Year's Resolutions," he added.
About the Author:
Chris Crum is a staff writer for SecurityProNews and WebProNews.
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