Privacy, Security & Virus Information

Hackers take a festive season break - but is it the calm before the storm?

As unexplainable as birds falling out of the skies, internet industry experts are confused by the sudden and dramatic fall in spam traffic witnessed before Christmas with volumes still to return to previous levels. Not that anyone is complaining.

Experts point out that current spam and virus levels have fallen as low as they were almost three years, directly opposite to the virus blast that was generally predicted would happen as internet shoppers made their pre-Xmas purchases. While security experts can only estimate the levels of spam traffic, the facts are that levels appear to have fallen and are showing no sign of an increase in the offing. Heads are being scratched across the globe trying to figure why this fall in viruses has taken place, with the least likely explanation being that the hackers of the World have suddenly seen the folly of their ways and turned over a new leaf.

Illogical though it may seem, spam volumes have been falling steadily since the summer of 2010, with both November and December showing decreases in the amount of spam generated. While it can be very possible that increased awareness by the web surfing public of the dangers of "unprotected surfing" it is more likely that the "dark side" are regrouping for a massive and concentrated attack which can come anytime soon.

The largest question mark among security experts hovers over the Rustock botnet which has suddenly become dormant. To understand the Rostock's role in e-mail spamming is that to absorb the fact that close to half of all spam circulated in 2010, passed through Rostock, which is estimated to have a network of over one million compromised computers throughout the globe. Rostock, believed to be operated by a Russian based hacker organisation, would typically generate an incredible 44 billion spam e-mails each and every day. Yet that number has fallen to a mere 500 million daily in the last few weeks. To make this phenomenon a further cause for concern is that two other major botnets, Lethic and Xarvester have also considerably reduced their activities over the last few weeks.

Industry experts fear that the internet is about to be swamped by a massive and unprecedented wave of coordinated cyber attacks, either from Rostock on its own, or as part of a coalition of internet nasties.

The only proper way that a currently uncompromised computer can have any way of protecting itself from these attacks if and when they do come is to have the most powerful anti virus protection software up and running. Be ready when the sleeping Russian giant wakes up from their Christmas hibernation!

 

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