2009 Annual Report on Computer Security

PandaLabs, part of Panda Security, a leading provider of computer security solutions, has released their 2009 Annual Report on computer security.

Bottom line: It is pretty scary reading. 2009 was, without a doubt, a record-setting year for the creation of new threats and security issues. Cyber-criminals have become much better at making money from their malware and avoiding detection.

To read the report makes you feel that there is no way to be a user of computers safely these days. That isn't true (yet) but new solutions and security approaches are required as new threats are created. The amount of money made from malware in 2009 was more than any previous year so it is safe to safe that we will be seeing more of the same in 2010 and beyond.

Here are some highlights of the report:

• 25 million new strains of malware were identified in just one year, compared to a combined total of 15 million throughout the rest of Panda Security’s 20-year history.
  
• Banker Trojans and fake antivirus programs topped the threat ranking
• Social networks (Facebook, Twitter, YouTube or Digg) and SEO attacks were favored by cybercriminals for spreading malicious code
• Politically motivated cyber-attacks significantly increased throughout 2009

Stayed tuned for my analysis as I read through the report but if you want to read it yourself you can find the pdf file here: 2009 Annual Report from PandaLabs.

Fake Facebook e-mail “Subject: updated account agreement”

The latest actions directed towards Facebook users is an email telling the users that their Facebook agreement has been modified and they need to accept the new agreement. The agreement is attached as a .ZIP file.

It goes without saying (I hope) that this is fake and malicious and that users should never open file attached from someone they don't personally know and expect an attachment from. If this attachment is run it installs a trojan on the user's computer.

The e-mail looks like this:

Dear Facebook user,

Due to Facebook policy changes, all Facebook users must submit a new, updated account agreement, regardless of their original account start date.
Accounts that do not submit the updated account agreement by the deadline will have restricted.

Please unzip the attached file and run “agreement.exe” by double-clicking it.

Thanks,
The Facebook Team

Thanks to the Sophos Labs blog for this valuable information.

Fake Microsoft Outlook Security Update

There is an e-mail circulating with the subject "Microsoft Outlook Critical Update" which is very real looking, but very fake and dangerous.

The URL pointing to the "critical update" looks legitimate, but hovering over the hyperlink (or checking the source code of the mail) will show that the link leads to a totally different destination.

Sophos Labs indicates that the URL leads to the download of "a backdoor banking Trojan which allows a remote user to access and steal sensitive data and provides an intruder with remote access to the compromised system."

Remember that Microsoft will never send updates via a direct e-mail. Updates should be installed directly from the official Microsoft Update website at http://update.microsoft.com.