Spam volumes exceed highest records

By Staff Writer for Trellix
Johannesburg, 19 Aug 2009

Spam volumes are up by 114%, exceeding the highest volume on record by 20%, and increasing at a rate of approximately 33% each month.

This was a key finding of the McAfee Q2 Threats Report. The report also highlights the dramatic expansion of botnets and auto-run malware threats.

According to the report, cyber criminal botnets have infected over 14 million computers, a 16% increase over last quarter's rise. That averages to more than 150 000 computers infected every day, or 20% of the personal computers bought daily.

The report confirmed McAfee's first quarter prediction that the surge in botnet growth would send spam to new levels. Botnet expansion is the main driver in the increasing volume of spam, which now constitutes 92% of all e-mail.

The growth in botnets has seen malware writers beginning to offer malicious software-as-a-service to those who control botnets. By exchanging or selling resources, cyber criminals distribute new malware to wider audiences instantaneously.

"The jump in bot and spam activity we saw in the last three months is alarming, and the threat from auto-run malware continues to grow," says Jayson O'Reilly, regional manager for Africa at McAfee. "The expansion of these infections is a grave reminder of the potential harm that can be caused by unprotected computers in homes and businesses."

McAfee researchers also found that, over the course of 30 days, auto-run malware had infected more than 27 million files. Auto-run malware, which exploits Windows' auto-run capabilities, does not require any user clicks to activate and is most often spread through portable USB and storage devices. The rate of detection surpasses even that of the infamous Conficker worm by 400%, making auto-run the number one piece of malware detected around the world.

According to the company, cyber crime has extended to social networks as well. Twitter's growth in popularity has made it a new target for cyber criminals in the past three months. Malware like the "Mikeey" worm and new variations of the Koobface Trojan attack users through tweets and abbreviated URLs.

To view the McAfee Q2 Threats Report, go to:
http://www.mcafee.com/us/local_content/reports/6623rpt_avert_threat_0709.pdf