In its annual report for 2009, security firm “Barracuda Labs” indicates the changes in Internet user behavior and the consequent attacker trends. The report mentions that human behavior like the use of social networking sites and search topics on the Internet contributes in influencing the assault techniques of cybercriminals.
As per the report, search result poisoning along with social engineering (phishing and FakeAV) are the techniques used in 69% cyber assaults, as compared to 39% conducted using software vulnerabilities.
The attacks on social networking websites is due to their immense popularity and huge user base, noted the security firm. For example, between November 2008 and April 2009, 48 out of the top 100 Twitter celebrities at present started using this service. Consequently, this led to a radical increase in public interest, which rose from 2% growth rate in November 2008 to a 21% growth rate by April 2009.
Realizing the opportunity, criminals came in, contributing to 66% increase in Twitter attacks during the period. According to Barracuda an attack involve not just developing fake accounts, but exploiting direct messages to distribute malicious links by using the current news stories, and employing direct messages to run their spam campaigns.
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