Global organised crime has gone high-tech, complete with auctioning sites selling malware and stolen bank card details, say regional security experts.

According to them, organised crime is now the major driving force for illegal web activities. "Due to the relative ease of operating almost invisibly over the Internet, criminal’s shift from physical to cyber safe has been swift." 

The rate of growth of malware has shot up exponentially in the last few years. In 2007 over 5 million unique malware samples were detected.

At the current growth rate, this conservatively projects to over 230,000,000 by 2010, they said.

A recent regional security survey conducted by Trend Micro and ITP.net revealed that in the past three months alone, 80 per cent of users were affected by spam; 31 per cent were affected by viruses; and 23 per cent were affected by viruses and Trojans. Startlingly, 25 per cent were unaware that threats existed in the region.

The survey also revealed that, people in the Middle East are fairly knowledgeable about security threats such as spam, viruses, worms and Trojans.

"But only about 18 per cent have heard of ‘rootkits’ - a set of tools that allows hackers to gain access to key root functions on a server," said Ian Cochrane, Regional Marketing Manager, Trend Micro.

“The Middle East’s economic success signals a lucrative target for cyber criminals. All attacks are financially motivated. Given the sophistication and stealth of these attacks, it is imperative that regional businesses have the right level of protection,” he pointed out.

Web threats can be installed on a PC without the user’s implicit knowledge and permission. Because 72 per cent of regional employees browse web-sites unrelated to work, the chances of downloading malicious software are much higher.

Unprotected hot spots are particularly dangerous. The study shows that 73 per cent of employees use laptops outside of work, increasing the chances of infection.

Trend Micro’s Smart Protection Network is a unique approach designed to stay one step ahead of the cybercriminals. This new cloud-client hybrid technology enables organisations to protect laptops, workstations, servers and gateway systems.

Trend Micro’s real-time infrastructure, sitting in the cloud, then checks the signature for malware. Once checked, a response is sent back to the client.

This structure insures customers have immediate access to the latest and strongest protection wherever and however they connect to the internet – from home, within the company’s network, or on the go.

“Our Smart Protection Network uses advanced threat correlation to halt web attacks at the source while minimizing the resource demands on your IT environment. Trend Micro’s next generation of anti-malware technology has arrived, blocking the most sophisticated threats before they reach your corporate network,” added Cochran.

At the heart of the Smart Protection Network is a move beyond the conventional approaches of blocking threats and towards a global network of threat intelligence that uses Trend Micro’s cloud-based technology to block Web threats before they reach a network or computer.

Leveraged across Trend Micro’s on-premise products, as well as hosted solutions that have effectively protected millions of customers since the company’s inception 20 years ago, Trend Micro Smart Protection Network takes the fight against crimeware into the Internet cloud.-TradeArabia News Service