Just when you thought it might be safe to be online, the recently announced results from IBM's Global Business Security Index Report highlight disturbing security results and trends.
Indeed, according to the report, those nasty viruses and worms that we have been grappling with on our desktops may spread aggressively to handheld devices, cell phones, wireless networks, and embedded computers, which include automobile and satellite communication systems.
The report documents that e-mail-borne worms and viruses were extremely troublesome for corporate networks in 2004. E-mail-borne worms, including Bagle, Netsky and Mydoom, were at the top of the list in terms of the sheer number of variants and overall disruption.
Moreover, during the final months of 2004, an increasing number of viruses directed at PDAs and other mobile devices, such as the Cabir worm, were launched. IBM predicts that these types of worms will be used by copycats and could trigger an avalanche of viruses targeted at mobile devices.
Amazingly, the report documents that the number of known viruses increased by 28,327 in 2004, for a total of 112,438 known viruses — an increase of 25 percent compared to 2003.
The report also explains that of more than 147 billion e-mails scanned in 2004, 901 million, or 6.1 precent, contained a virus. In 2003, by comparison, only 3 percent were infected with viruses. And in 2002, the figure was just 0.5 percent.
On top of all of this, the report notes that more than 70 percent of all e-mail traffic on the Internet is unsolicited commercial e-mail, a.k.a. spam. As part of the report, 12.6 billion e-mails were scanned, and of these, 9.2 billion, or 73 percent, were identified as spam. This compares with a spam percentage of 40% in 2003, and 9 percent in 2002. Obviously, the CAN-SPAM Act, designed to deter and punish spammers, is not getting the job done.
And if all of the above were not enough, phishing — e-mails containing URLs directing users to fraudulent Web sites — increased by a whopping 5,000 percent in 2004. In fact, 18 million phishing e-mails were intercepted in 2004.
The trend presented by the report is not rosy. So — as the TV cop says — be careful out there!
Eric Sinrod is a partner in the San Francisco office of Duane Morris (www.duanemorris.com), where he focuses on litigation matters of various types, including information technology disputes. His column appears Wednesdays at USATODAY.com. His Web site is www.sinrodlaw.com, and he can be reached at . To receive a weekly e-mail link to Mr. Sinrod's columns, please send an e-mail with the word Subscribe in the Subject line to .
Reprinted here with permission from USAToday.com.