Targeted malware attacks: The new normal
Hackers target more than government agencies and defense contractors, according to briefing at Black Hat conference
Follow @infoworld
Stealthy, targeted attacks aren't just for defense agencies and high-tech giants like Google, according to researchers from managed security services firm TrustWave's Spider Labs research group. In a talk at the annual Black Hat Briefings in Las Vegas, Nicholas Percoco and Jibran Ilyas said that so-called "advanced persistent" attacks are becoming more common and target even midsized businesses without significant intellectual property.
The researchers' presentation, "Malware Freak Show 2010," presented data culled from scores of TrustWave customer engagements during the past year. In many, the managed services firm was engaged to assess the security of a new customer's network. The researchers said that increasingly they were finding unique malicious programs designed specifically for that network.
[ Also on InfoWorld: Hackers at Defcon target cell phone security. | Get your systems up to snuff with InfoWorld's interactive Security iGuide. | Stay up to date on the latest security developments with InfoWorld's Security Central newsletter. ]
"Targeted malware is the norm, not the exception," said Percoco.
The customer engagements profiled by the two researchers spanned the gamut -- from a large provider of VoIP communications and a defense contractor, to a small Miami sports bar favored by professional athletes and celebrities. While the types of attacks they uncovered weren't novel, in each case the researchers said they found that attackers had made significant improvements to the malware they deployed -- all with a goal of avoiding detection and maintaining a foothold on their victims' networks.
