Report on Future Trends in Malware, Spyware, Viruses and Other Baddies

This a follow-up to earlier posts:

• Phishing Resources (July 5, 2005)
• Legal Systems Can't Stop Cybercrime (July 7, 2005)
• New Website on Internet Scams and Fraud (November 23, 2005)

Security consultant Dancho Danchev has written a paper entitled Malware – future trends that analyzes the driving forces behind the rise of malicious software practices such as viruses and identity theft.

He also looks at future trends, including the rising vulnerability of mobile networks, open source malware, anonymous and illegal hosting of copyrighted materials, the appearance of malware coding services on demand, cryptoviral extortion ("ransomware" that by illicit invasion and encryption of a target system can render useless an organization's information assets unless it pays a ransom) , etc.

Key summary points:

• Malware authors update their multi-vendor anti-virus signatures faster than most end
  users and enterprises can react
• The high pressure put on malware authors by the experienced vendors is causing
  them to unite efforts and assets...
• Intellectual property theft worms have the potential to dominate in today’s knowledge-driven society acting as tools for espionage
• The growing Internet population, E-commerce flow, and the demand for unethical services, could fuel the development of an ecosystem for "anything but legal"
• The "Web as a platform" is a powerful medium for malware attackers understanding
  the new Web
• The unprecedented growth of E-commerce will always remain the main incentive
  for illegal activities