Mutating malware on the rise

The past month has seen an unprecedented rise in the tide of email-borne malware, according to security researchers, with crooks increasingly turning to malware capable of changing its encoding techniques to evade detection.

In its latest Intelligence Report, security firm Symantec noted that one in every 130 emails in the UK contained malicious malware.

Today, nearly three-quarters of email malware contains aggressive strains of so-called polymorphic malware – up from 24 per cent in July 2011, when Symantec first detected its presence.

This mutating malware uses different encoding techniques to spread its malicious code and in so doing, aims to bypass security systems based on detecting known malware signatures.

“Cyber criminals have escalated their assault on businesses in 2011, fully exploiting the weaknesses of more traditional security countermeasures,” said Paul Wood, senior intelligence analyst at Symantec.cloud.

Other – more off-the-wall – approaches to spreading malware have included sending malware-containing emails that pretend to be from a printer from within the organisation.