Feb 9, 2005 — By Eric Auchard
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Daily computer security headaches such as viruses and spam threaten to spread to a far wider range of devices — from phones to car engines, a survey to be published by IBM on Wednesday has found.
The report, published by IBM Security Intelligence Services, a consulting arm of the world’s largest computer company, paints a picture of rampant, albeit controllable, security dangers.
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The survey combines data from big business customers, government security statistics and observations from some 2,000 IBM security consultants, detailing the proliferation of computer security threats in 2004 and likely next moves.
Watch out for viruses that spread to mobile phones, handheld computers, wireless networks and embedded computers which are increasingly used to run basic automobile functions, the 2004 year-end «Security Threats and Attack Trends Report» report warns. Then again, the readiness of individuals and companies to confront these challenges has also evolved, the study said.
«It’s difficult to say whether we are moving to a steady state,» Stuart McIrvine, director of IBM’s security strategy, said in an interview. «The threats are increasing, but consumers and businesses are getting a lot smarter.»
IBM’s report draws on data from 500,000 electronic devices.
It details a range of challenges that computer users faced in 2004 and extrapolates from early warning signs what sort of new threats electronics users are likely to face this year.
Known computer viruses grew by 28,327 in 2004 to bring the number of old and new viruses to 112,438, the report said. In 2002, only 4,551 new viruses were discovered.
Of 147 billion e-mails scanned by IBM for customers in 2004, one in 16, or 6 percent, contained a virus. During 2002, just 0.5 percent of e-mail scanned had viruses.
The average amount of spam circulating on global networks was 75 percent, the survey found. But during peak periods, spam accounted for as much as 95 percent of e-mail traffic.
The fastest-growing threat in 2004 was phishing — a method of enticing computer users to submit personal information or fall prey to other Internet deceptions. Such e-mails grew 5,000 percent last year, with some 18 million phishing attempts recorded, according to IBM.
THREAT TO CARS
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Looking ahead, McIrvine said cars were threatened by computer security threats, some malicious, others unintentional.
As the average new car runs 20 computer processors and about 60 megabytes of software code, the opportunity for malfunctions, wireless attacks and other security threats was multiplying, he said.
Another prediction is that Voice over Internet (VoIP) phone systems will be disrupted. As more companies move to replace traditional phone networks with VoIP systems, eavesdropping on callers and wholesale office network shutdowns carried out by remote attackers are likely to increase, IBM warned.
Kelly Kavanaugh, a computer security analyst with market research company Gartner Inc. of Stamford, Connecticut, said the IBM study highlights some newer threats such as phishing that will only grow more serious during 2005.
However, while computer security viruses and spam are growing, most business customers now understand what is entailed to manage such classic threats.
«These are things that seem to be pretty rapidly heading toward dull roar status,» Kavanaugh said of the most well-known computer security threats.
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