Malware a sophisticated ‘service’, says researcher

Malware is now being offered as a service, Auckland University researcher Peter Gutmann told the opening forum of Privacy Awareness Week in Wellington last week. “Some malware,” he says, “will not only take control of a computer but will also remove other malware.”

Why is this important? Because it continues to illustrate the growing sophistication of malware industry - targeted at serious financial gain…

Malware is now being offered as a service, Auckland University researcher Peter Gutmann told the opening forum of Privacy Awareness Week in Wellington last week.
“In Russia, you can earn up to $US200,000 a year writing commercial malware,” he says. “The Russians are the most organised in the world.”

He says they are even offering customisable interfaces.

“The quality of the malware product has gone from poorly tested, often quite buggy programs, to highly sophisticated, professionally written applications that rival any mainstream commercial software,” he says.

Gutmann says some of the more advanced malware has capabilities that bypass every currently used authentication and security mechanism through techniques such as injecting user keystrokes into web browsers.

See Original Article by Randal Jackson here.