The feared and famous Conficker worm may have been something of a letdown for failing to do anything dramatic on April 1st 2008 but the impact of worms and viruses on businesses has been significant.
According to Microsoft Security Intelligence Report, the number of worm infections in enterprise environments – those running forefront Client Security – doubled from the last half of 2008 through the first half of 2009. During this period, worms rose from the fifth most commonly encountered threat category to the second!
The most commonly encountered threat category for businesses was Miscellaneous Trojans, which include rogue security software. Be careful what you click on!!!!!
Microsoft's report also documents increased detection of password stealing and monitoring tools, which the report attributes to increasing malware attacks on online gamers.
The report offers a solution that is working for many with Internet Explorer 8. Because of Microsoft's SmartScreen Filter, which offers phishing and malware protection in Internet Explorer 8, the amount of Miscellaneous Potentially Unwanted Software can be cleaned and reduced. If you haven’t upgraded to IE8 this may be another good reason to do so this year.
Article byThomas Claburn – Information Week
Edited by Libby Lucas – Carolina Computer Partners