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Bank robber Willie Sutton was once famously quoted as saying the reason he robbed banks is because “that’s where the money is.” It seems another form of criminal is adding new meaning to that old quote.
Cisco Systems reported in its annual security report released this week that social media sites have become the newest playground for cybercriminals. Why? Because that’s where the traffic is.
The report noted that social media experienced explosive growth in 2009, with Facebook alone tripling its active user base to 350 million over the course of the year. Social media adoption is expected to continue growing into 2010 and that is attracting the interest of cybercriminals because members often place an inordinate amount of trust in the sites and in other members of their communities.
“The blending of social media for business and pleasure increases the potential for network security troubles, and people, not technology can often be the source,” says Cisco Fellow Patrick Peterson. “Without proper cognizance of security threats, our natural inclination to trust our ‘friends’ can result in exposing ourselves, home computers and corporate networks to malware.”
As part of the Annual Security Report, Cisco introduced its first Cybercrime Showcase, acknowledging security professionals who are manning the front lines in the fight against cybercrime as well as certain attacks which cause a significant amount of trouble for Internet users in 2009. Making the list this year:
• Most Audacious Criminal Operation: Zeus. A Trojan that delivers malware by targeted phishing and drive-by downloads. Zeus goes beyond login names and passwords to steal online banking credentials. Cisco says affordable toolkits are enabling cybercriminals to create variants of Zeus that are difficult to detect by antivirus programs.
• Cybercrime “Sign of Hope”: The Conficker Working Group. This group, composed of members of the security community and industry, is credited with significantly muting the impact of the network worm Conficker, which was anticipated to wreak havoc starting on April 1, 2009.
• Most Notable Criminal Innovation: Koobface. The Koobface worm regenerated itself, first appearing on Facebook in 2008, then Twitter in 2009. Koobface lures users into clicking a link for a YouTube video that launches the worm. More than 3 million computers have been infected by variants.
While not a new threat, Cisco also reported that spam continues to be a tried and true means of tricking people into downloading malware. It estimates that in 2010 spam volumes will grow 30% to 40% above 2009 levels. The rollout of broadband in developing countries is driving the increase.
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