Growth in Internet crime calls for stronger punishment

By Victor Ng | Dec 4, 2008

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In its End of Year Data Security Wrap-up for 2008, F-Secure explains how 2008 has been another record year of explosive growth in the amount of malicious software (malware) on the Internet.

F-Secure’s detection count tripled in one year, which means that the total amount of malware accumulated over the previous 21 years increased by 300% in the course of just one year.

Criminal activity for financial gain remains the driver for the massive increase in Internet threats. Today’s malware is produced by highly organized criminal gangs using increasingly sophisticated techniques.

This year has seen increasing botnet activity around the world.

These remotely controlled networks of infected computers remain a major challenge to the IT security industry because it is their vast computing power that is behind the unprecedented level of spam e-mail and malware distribution.

Major attacks
In 2008, Internet security issues once again made global news:

• The huge rise in the amount of malware produced in the Chinese language during the Beijing Olympics
• Attacks on the computer systems of the presidential candidates in the United States
• Three major London hospitals were affected by a computer virus outbreak
• The United States Department of Defense decided to ban the use of USB memory sticks because of the security threat they pose
• Malware even went into space as an online games password-stealer made its way onto the International Space Station on an infected laptop

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