This year, hackers seem indifferent to viruses, but other dangerous software has surged, making users’ PC systems more vulnerable than ever.
Cybercriminals have now intensified the development of spyware aimed at collecting personal information for resale or future exploitation. In the past, virus authors sought fame, attacking systems to demonstrate their technical prowess. The larger the exploit, the more hackers were regarded as “skilled and impressive.”
Today, especially in 2005, no one invests effort just for notoriety. They spread malicious programs for profit and commonly use two methods to steal personal information: installing keylogger software or creating a network of compromised machines using Trojans.
This trend was noted as early as January, with Trojan Downloader.GK topping the charts from security firm Panda. The year 2005 witnessed several significant worm outbreaks, including a massive invasion of Sober at the beginning and end of the year.
Attack methods have also begun to evolve. While most still rely on exploiting victims’ complacency to persuade them to open attachments, some hackers have shifted to directing users to websites containing unpatched browser exploitation software.
Not only the Windows operating system but also Internet Explorer faced numerous attacks throughout the year, prompting Danish security firm Secunia to recommend switching to other browsers. However, the open-source product Firefox continuously encountered issues, while Safari and Opera were not immune either. Not only browsers but compatible applications also inadvertently became accomplices, allowing hackers to bypass firewalls.
With the increase in attacks, patches have become more crucial than ever, yet they are released very slowly. A researcher who discovered a vulnerability in Oracle’s software had to wait two years for a public upgrade. Even after the company released 88 patches, there were still concerns about security assurances.
Meanwhile, every patch from Microsoft seemed to serve as a “roadmap” for hackers to create new exploit codes. Hackers only needed three days after the August bulletin’s release to spread Zotob, and just 24 hours to do something similar in October.
In 2005, there was also a conflict between security experts and manufacturers when an employee of ISS (USA) was fired for publicly disclosing a vulnerability in Cisco products. Cisco even attempted to shut down websites containing information about this flaw.
Notably, Microsoft began to change its hostile attitude towards hackers by inviting them to review the code of Internet Explorer 7.
