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Our Bureau

Hyderabad, Sept. 25 Outsourcing is not just confined to software or hardware companies, but is also a business model that exists within the hacking groups with specialised language for communicating.

“Phishers and spammers have supply chain managements too and there are clear prices for the services that each one provides and all these are beginning to show up now,” Mr Shantanu Ghosh, Vice-President, India Product Operations, Symantec Software India Pvt Ltd, said which speaking on the Emerging Security Threats and Trends here.

According to him, malicious activity nowadays is targeted at end-users and not at computers like in the past.

“This has made the underground economy more mature with flexible models and for a new person entering this area he no longer needs to a specialist but can buy the services,” he added.

A study done by the company has also said that these ‘criminals’ have rapid adaptation to security business as it is like an online business.

For example, the cost of bank account information ranges any where between $10 and $1,000 and accounts for 22 per cent of the underground economy.

Next comes credit card information which costs $0.40 - $20 accounting for 13 per cent. Other information sold include e-mail addresses, e-mail passwords, eBay accounts etc.

He also informed that the malicious activity today has become primarily Web-based and there has been a significant increase in site specific vulnerabilities.

The company’s research also pointed out that in the 2007-second half , 4,99,811 new malicious code threats were found.

“This is a 136 per cent increase over the previous period when 2,12,101 threats were detected and 571 per cent increase over the second half of 2006,” he said.

Mr Ghosh said that around 80 per cent of mail flowing around is spam as against 8 per cent in 2001 and the spammers are using innovative ways to beat blocking technologies.

In India, Mr Ghosh said enterprises and consumers are still plagued by ‘worms and viruses’.

“Phishing and other end user exploits are on the rise. India currently has around five to six million users who access social networks and this is the other major area that is vulnerable,” he said.

He added that India features amongst the top 10 countries from where spam originates and earlier this year, Indian banks faced a six-fold increase in phishing attacks.

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