Number of business hacks increases
21/04/2008 19:25:52
The number of UK companies finding external intruders behind their firewalls has increased dramatically over the last year compared with 2006, according to 2008 Information Security Breaches survey figures.
Research found that 13 per cent of companies acknowledged finding that hackers had broken through their security systems in 2007, in comparison with just 1 one per cent the previous year, reports Computer Weekly.
PricewaterhouseCoopers' security practice partner and author of the report Chris Potter said that hackers are looking to make money by discovering valuable information like customer details or business plans, according to the technology news provider.
"They aim to take over machines and make them part of botnets [networks of PCs controlled by criminals]. They then hire out the botnets to spammers or phishers or use them in a distributed denial of service attack to extort money by threatening to block communications," he added.
Last week, Norman Data Defence Systems issued a warning that a spear phishing attack was targeting company chief executives by issuing them with a fake subpoena indicating that they were going to be sued. New paragraph
They were instructed to use a plug-in carrying a Trojan in order to view the documents.
