Hack attacks up 28%

Internet hackers are on the march, and they want your money.

That is the stark conclusion of the biannual report by leading online security firm Symantec, which found 28% more hack attacks in the second half of 2004 compared with the first six months of the year.

The company also found that the attacks were more malicious, aiming not only to cause havoc for victims and gain notoriety for the perpetrators but to steal personal information and launch spyware.

On average businesses and other organizations received 13.6 attacks on their computer systems every day in the second half of 2004, compared to 10.6 attacks in the first half of the year.

Symantec also said that its anti-spam filters blocked an average of 33 mln phishing messages a week in December – up from just 9 mln a week in the first half of the year.

“Phishing” is an increasingly common method of stealing personal data, such as credit card information, by sending spoof emails purporting to come from respected sources, particularly financial institutions. Often it is almost impossible to distinguish the emails as fakes, and security experts warn users never to transmit sensitive information in response to an unsolicited, uncorroborated email.

The report also focused on the growing number of viruses aimed at mobile devices: in December, there were 21 known samples of malicious code for mobile devices – up from just one at the end of last June.

The report also revealed that hackers are broadening their attacks from Internet Explorer. Numerous hacks now attempt to exploit security flaws in the increasingly popular Firefox browser.