IBM: Security Attacks Up 50%

Criminal-driven security attacks and emails with viruses increased by 50% in the first half of this year according to a report released by IBM today.

Among the biggest targets for such acts have been government financial services, and manufacturing and healthcare industries. The threats are aimed at extorting money and stealing critical data and identities.

Lesser threats such as spam and simpler computer viruses decreased, but the larger scale stuff is what shot up. This shows that targeted attacks against specific organizations are the big problem. According to a press release from IBM,

Spawns of phishing threats such as ‘spear phishing’ – highly targeted and coordinated attacks at a specific organization or individual designed to extract critical data – increased more than ten-fold since January of this year alone. Unlike in previous years, when viruses were mainly created and launched to slow down and cripple IT systems, these types of ‘customized’ attacks have shown their potential to defraud businesses, steal identities and intellectual property and extort money, while damaging the brand and eroding customer trust.

The ratio of spam to legitimate email continuously decreased over the course of the last six months, from 83 percent in January to 67 percent in June 2005, while virus-laden email increased fifty percent over the same period. At first glance what appears to be good news – the leveling off of massive outbreaks that cripple IT environments on a regional or global basis in the past six months – seemingly indicates that hijacking computers to send spam is no longer the network disruption of choice.

“IBM advises its clients to rapidly adopt a holistic, enterprise-wide approach to security and risk management,” said John Lutz, the general manager of the company’s Financial Services Sector.

“To protect their critical data, infrastructure, brands, and money, IBM advises businesses to rethink how they protect their operations, business processes and governance structures. Companies can employ the latest protective technology, while ensuring that their own customers get highest level of protection available.”

At the end of last year, one in every 52 emails contained a threat. By January, it was one in every 35. By June, it got all the way to one out of every 28 emails.

Chris is a staff writer for Murdok. Visit Murdok for the latest ebusiness news.