05 Nov 2009

Hackers 'becoming more cunning ' in malware development

Cyber criminals are becoming more cunning in the development of new malware programs, it has been claimed.

Tom Kelchner, research centre manager at Sunbelt Software, said businesses are being put at greater risk of attack due to the ability of hackers to disguise malware as ordinary programs and to embed malicious code within otherwise harmless attachments or files.

He commented: "We advise users to be vigilant and to ensure their antivirus applications are fully up to date with the latest definition files and the latest application version installed."

Mr Kelchner added that it is getting harder for users to spot malware and therefore they must be vigilant at all times.

According to the Microsoft Security Intelligence Report, worm infections rose by nearly 100 per cent during the first half of 2009 over the preceding six months. However, while rogue security software remains a major threat, 20 per cent fewer customers were affected by rogue infections during the past six months.