Spyware

The increasing complexity of demands being placed on IT systems – for mobility, flexibility, and interoperability between different hardware and software – has led to an explosive growth in the variety of communication routes exploited by threats. Over the last year the numbers and different types of malware increased, techniques that hijack computers and turn them into zombies became a cornerstone of many attacks, and new threats became commonplace almost more quickly than the media could come up with terms to describe them (phishing, pharming, spear phishing). The distinction between different types of threat also became more blurred. Overall, there was an increasing emphasis on secrecy and stealth, and spyware has become one of the biggest threats that businesses now face.

The stand-out new threat is, of course, spyware. The growth in spyware – which sits secretly on computers, logging keystrokes, stealing information, and opening up networks to further attack – has presented businesses with new concerns about security issues. Installing itself onto a user’s computer by stealth, subterfuge and/or social engineering, it sends information from that computer to a third party without the user’s permission or knowledge.

The growing quantity of new threats, the speed with whichthey spread, and the hugely complex task of protecting networks against them are going to have significant implications for businesses in 2006. The combination of spreading methods and the multi-level nature of many threats means that organizations will look increasingly to single vendors with cross-threat expertise and consolidated product solutions to protect their systems, their data and their business continuity.