Targeted Trojan attacks on the rise, report finds
Computer hackers are increasingly tailoring attacks using Trojan horse programs for certain businesses in hopes of filching intellectual property, a new security report released Thursday said.
MessageLabs said its latest research data shows these kinds of attacks have risen six-fold over the same period in 2005. While the increase is dramatic, the number of attempts remains low: The targeted attacks are occurring about once a day rather than one or two per week in 2005, the company said.
An attack e-mail may be sent to people in four or five companies in similar kinds of businesses, said Paul Wood, senior analyst for MessageLabs. The company counts the attempt as one attack.
MessageLabs products filter e-mail and Internet traffic before it reaches its users, and the company studies the traffic for trends. It provides services to around 14,000 business customers worldwide, and its attack statistics are drawn from that data pool.
