From US-CERT | Nov 20, 2009
The nature of malicious code, or malware, (e.g., viruses, worms,
bots) shifted recently from disrupting service to actively seeking
financial gain. In the past, worms were designed primarily to
propagate. The impact on victims and organizations was primarily a
disruption of service resulting in loss of productivity and
sometimes a loss in revenue. Now, many of the significant worms are
designed to steal sensitive information such as credit card
numbers, social security numbers, pin codes, and passwords and send
the information to the attacker for nefarious purposes including
identity theft.
Unfortunately, attackers have become very adept at circumventing
traditional defenses such as anti-virus software and firewalls.
Even encrypted web transactions may not protect sensitive
information if the user's computer has been infected.
Because malware writers are circumventing the basic security
controls many organizations have implemented, the community needs
to increase user awareness regarding cyber security issues in order
to minimize the opportunity for sensitive information from "leaking
out" of an organization. If a system is compromised, organizations
need to improve the ability to minimize their damage. The purpose
of this guide is to inform organizations of this rapidly growing
problem and provide best-practice defense tactics.
The attached Zip file includes:
- Intro Page.doc
- Cover Sheet and Terms.pdf
- Malware Threats and Mitigation Strategies.pdf
