[iwar] [fc:Stand.by.for.more.nasty.Web.attacks.in.2002]

From: Fred Cohen (fc@all.net)
Date: 2001-12-27 21:39:06
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From: Fred Cohen <fc@all.net>
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Date: Thu, 27 Dec 2001 21:39:06 -0800 (PST)
Subject: [iwar] [fc:Stand.by.for.more.nasty.Web.attacks.in.2002]
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Stand by for more nasty Web attacks in 2002

By Elinor Mills Abreu, Reuters,12/27/2001
<a href="http://www.reuters.co.uk/news_article.jhtml?type=businessnews&StoryID=478566">http://www.reuters.co.uk/news_article.jhtml?type=businessnews&StoryID=478566>#

If security experts are calling 2001 the worst year for computer
viruses, and December the worst month, how bad will things get in 2002? 
Experts are predicting that viruses and their cousins, the
self-propagating worms, will find new and even more nasty ways to attack
computer systems, possibly even hitting mobile devices, pocket PCs and
smart phones in the coming year. 
Computer users should expect to see more viruses that try to dupe them
into taking action that will execute the malicious code, said Vincent
Weafer, senior director of Symantec's security response centre. 
Virus writers have learned that it's easy to trick people into opening
attachments by telling recipients they are photos of Russian tennis star
Anna Kournikova or labelling them "naked wife." 
Other virus ruses included misleading people into believing that by
clicking on an attachment they could participate in a survey about the
events in Afghanistan, or indicating that it was an antivirus software
update from an established vendor. 
While such gimmicks were popular, the most damaging virus didn't spread
via e-mail. At an estimated $2.6 billion (1.8 billion pounds) in damages
and 300,000 computers infected, Code Red was the biggest virus this
year. It spread by exploiting a known vulnerability in servers running
Microsoft's Internet Information Server Web software. 
'BLENDED THREAT' 
This year was the year of the "blended threat" virus, featuring multiple
attack modes such as Nimda, which spread via e-mails and infected Web
pages and servers. The more methods of attack, the faster and farther a
worm can spread, experts say. 
"You've traditionally had hacker tools in one corner and virus writers
in another corner," said Weafer. "Now they've come together." 
Vincent Gullotto, senior research director of Network Associates'
antivirus response team, also warned of more attacks that lure computer
users to visit infected web pages. 
In such attacks, victims receive e-mails that include Web addresses
that, when visited, download malicious code to the computer. 
"You don't have to double click on anything. There's no attachment,"
Gullotto said. 
Because devices like the Microsoft Pocket PC 2002 and Nokia Communicator
can be plugged into a desktop computer to download information, they are
susceptible to some of the same computer viruses and worms that infect
PCs, said Mikko Hypponen, manager of anti-virus research for
Finnish-based F-Secure Corp. 
"The next wave of attacks are not going to come from the PC, but from
wireless viruses," George Samenuk, chief executive of Network
Associates, told Reuters in an interview recently. 
"Less than five percent of wireless devices have anti-virus software,
while wireless networks are really taking hold," Samenuk said. 
'SCRIPTS' AN EVEN GREATER CONCERN 
Another Network Associates researcher said experts are even more
concerned with scripts, or malicious pieces of code, that are
transferred between mobile phones via the instant messaging system. 
"There are things that can be done today in which you can send a script
and it can shut the phone off," said Vincent Gullotto. 
But the mobile virus threat was played down by Sophos Anti-Virus senior
technical consultant, Graham Cluley. 
"Is there a mobile threat? One year after the first warning we haven't
seen a single mobile device virus in the wild," he said. 
Cluley added that Sophos has a team looking at mobile viruses, but for
2002 he advised that corporate clients spend their anti-virus budgets in
other areas with higher risks. 
As of early December, corporations had spent an estimated $12.3 billion
to clean up virus damage for the year, according to Computer Economics,
a Carlsbad, California, firm that analyses the economic impact of
viruses and other computer security threats. 
After Code Red, the second most-costly virus, at an estimated $1
billion, was an e-mail worm dubbed SirCam that exported random documents
from infected machines, putting the privacy of computer users at risk. 


© Copyright Reuters 2001. All rights reserved. Any copying,
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Quotes and other data are provided for your personal information only,
and are not intended for trading purposes. Reuters, the members of its
Group and its data providers shall not be liable for any errors or
delays in the quotes or other data, or for any actions taken in reliance
thereon. 
© Reuters 2001. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of
Reuters content, including by caching, framing or similar means, is
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trademarks of the Reuters group of companies around the world. 
www.reuters.co.uk

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