Excerpted from a Sympatico/Globe & Mail story today:
'Spyware' steps out of the shadows
John Borland
CNET
Quote:
Late in July, an e-mail that hit employee in-boxes at a British credit card and finance company carried a secret payload — "spyware" capable of recording confidential corporate data and sending it over the Net.
Labelled "Wedding Invitation," the e-mail looked at first like spam or an ordinary worm. But consultants at security company Clearswift now believe that the e-mail was part of a targeted attack on the victim company aimed at extracting specific information — a nightmare scenario in the corporate security world.
Clearswift says the incident highlights a dangerous new trend in computer breaches, where spyware applications increasingly play a starring role. Relatively benign attacks intended to win attention by disrupting networks are being eclipsed by sophisticated attempts to steal passwords and other confidential information that can be used to deliver cash.
"The good old days of script kiddies and geeks are well gone," said Pete Simpson, manager of Clearswift's ThreatLab division. "These are criminal gangs, and the motive is clearly profit."
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11-20-2003, 01:50 AM
Criminal Spyware
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