Aladdin: 15 percent of spyware used to commit computer crimes
Aladdin Knowledge Systems, which specializes in information security solutions, published worrying results yesterday on spyware research it had conducted indicating a high level of serious computer crimes, spying and information theft. The spyware phenomenon grabbed numerous headlines in June after reports that many companies, including several high-profile ones, were suspected of spying on competitors. Suspected companies included satellite company Yes for spying on HOT; Cellcom for spying on Partner Communications; and Amdocs, which may have spied on the financial newspaper Globes. Aladdin's investigation of 2,000 spyware programs found that 15 percent of them that track targeted end-users steal passwords and user names, as well as document use of Instant Messaging and e-mail programs. These software programs constitute a real and present danger to the privacy of the personal and business user, according to Aladdin. Some 15 percent of spyware programs send information obtained from a user logged onto a contaminated system to a third party, accounting for the lion's share of privacy violations. About 25 percent of spyware is less threatening but should not be discounted. These programs obtain and transmit stolen data from the user's operating system, including the name of the computer host and domain, documentation of all running applications, installed programs and security applications, the current IP address, the type and version of the operating system, security updates, and other details. Ofer Elzam, an Aladdin security expert, said that "15 percent of spyware is meant for perpetrating acts that cannot be defined in any way other than `criminal.' The goal of spyware producers is to make a profit, and any means to do it is kosher for them. This is theft and trading in private and business information, identity theft, and even using contaminated computers for penetrating additional computers and networks."
Reproduced from an article published by Haaretz.com
© Haaretz.com
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