From infamy to fortune: Hackers shift gears

摘要

Virus writers and hackers are no longer content to exploit systems solely for infamy or bragging rights. Today's attackers have set their sights on securing fortunes in the form of corporate information, says Dean Turner, executive editor of Symantec's Internet Security Threat report. The semi-annual report, released late last month, shows a marked increased in the number of attacks designed to compromise networks. During the six-month period form July 1, 2004 to December 31, 2004, 97 per cent of the 1,403 new vulnerabilities were considered moderately or highly severe, meaning they could have resulted in a partial or complete compromise of the targeted system.