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Bangalore , Oct. 2

BLENDED threats, including worms such as the Slammer and the Blaster, are the most serious security issue for companies.

Also greater worm propagation is projected to result in overloads to network hardware, crippling network traffic and seriously preventing both individuals and businesses from using the Internet, according to a report by the Internet Security company, Symantec.

Symantec reports that the increasing prevalence of blended threats, which use a combination of malicious code and vulnerabilities to launch a cyber attack, remains one of the most significant security issues companies face this year. Blended threats accounted for 60 per cent of malicious code submissions in the first half of 2003, and the number of blended threats increased by 20 per cent - making them the most frequently reported threat.

"The Internet Security Threat report is an analysis of trends in cyber security activity and provides enterprises a reliable, accurate source of up-to-date Internet security trend data required to strengthen their overall corporate security postures," said Mr Joy Ghosh, Country Manager - India.

The speed of propagation of blended threats is also increasing. For example, the Slammer worm impacted systems worldwide in less than a few hours.

Moreover, for a time, the recent Blaster worm was infecting as many as 2,500 computers per hour.

The most visible attempt at theft of confidential data was the release of Bugbear.B in June 2003.

The discovery of this variant raised serious concerns since it specifically targeted banking institutions.

Submissions of malicious code with backdoors has risen nearly 50 per cent, increasing from 11 submissions to 17 for the first half of 2003.

As the use of instant messaging clients and peer-to-peer networking increases, new worms and viruses use these mechanisms to spread.

Of the top 50 malicious code submissions documented over the first half of 2003, 19 used peer-to-peer and instant messaging applications — an increase of almost 400 per cent in only one year.

The report includes analysis of data from Symantec Managed Security Services customers as well as more than 20,000 DeepSight Threat Management System registered sensors worldwide monitoring attack activity in more than 180 countries.

The report covers network-based attacks, a review of vulnerabilities discovered and exploited, and highlights of malicious code trends.

According to Symantec, users and administrators must follow a few minimum security best practices to reduce their vulnerabilities, keep up to date on security patches and increase employee awareness and compliance with security policies.

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