Cyber crooks and other mischief-makers on the Internet pretty much had a field day in 2014, often with the unwitting help of computer users, according to Cisco Systems annual report on web-related security problems.
The bad guys used several crafty techniques, including these, according to the study:
To avoid detection, they often sent low volumes of spam from a large number of IP addresses.
Because security companies have dismantled many of the so-called exploit kits that are widely available in the underground to compromise computers, crooks shifted to using less common kits that are harder to spot and counteract.
Instead of attacking weaknesses in one type of software, such as Flash or JavaScript, they targeted multiple software vulnerabilities simultaneously, making it harder for security experts to respond.
In addition, computer users were unknowingly aiding cyber attacks by downloading material from compromised websites, resulting in a 250 percent increase in spam from January to November last year.
Image by KRT archives.
