Botnets pose growing online threat

Botnets account for 22 per cent of all malware, up from three per cent in 2004, according to research published last week.

Security vendor McAfee’s Virtual Criminology Report says botnets are the UK’s fastest growing online threat, compromising 12 million computers worldwide.

A botnet is a number of hijacked computers that forward spam and viruses over the internet to other computers without the user’s knowledge.

Charlie McMurdie, detective chief inspector at the Metropolitan Police, says the force is seeing a substantial rise in botnets.

‘There is an increase, particularly in relation to directed attacks being propagated by loosely affiliated criminal networks for financial gain,’ she said.

‘It is happening for all the reasons that make the internet attractive to commit crime – the lack of geographical nature, and the fact that your suspect can distance himself from his victims and remotely attack thousands and millions of victims for financial gain,’ said McMurdie.

The lifecycle of a threat means that they are increasingly sophisticated because criminals are becoming more aware of the fraudulent opportunities that the internet presents.

‘It becomes more focused as people become aware of it and once they are aware of the merit of committing a particular form of crime, they lean towards using that system,’ she said.

The McAfee report also reveals a significant increase in spam containing images, up from 10 per cent of total spam in 2005 to 40 per cent in October 2006.

Image spam is typically three times the size of text-based spam and consumes significantly more bandwidth and storage.

What do you think? Email feedback@computing.co.uk

Further reading:

Cost of ID fraud to soar

UK must do more to fight spam