Ten years of scams and Malware - McAfee looks at the past

by Steve Ragan - Jan 26 2011, 08:00

McAfee recently released a report examining scams and Malware from the previous decade. Essentially, McAfee says that the explosion of users online can be tied directly to the amount of crime that we sometimes face.

Crime on the Internet got a foothold in the 90s, but when the Web exploded to 361 million users in 2000, and grew to well over 2 billion in 2010, criminals were presented with a flood of potential marks.

“With its rich landscape of e-commerce sites, paid services and online banking, the Internet became a treasure trove of money and information that proved irresistible to cybercrooks.

“Suddenly, the banking and credit card information of billions of people were potentially accessible to those employing the right exploit or scam. The arrival of social media sites later in the decade added another incredible opportunity for thieves to target personal and identity information,” McAfee’s report notes.

As the Web grew with potential victims, the technical skill applied by the criminals expanded to meet demand. This malicious technical growth has fueled the rat race and made things harder for the average user, as criminals can hide both themselves and the malicious schemes they develop with ease.

When it comes to the top five exploits of the decade, McAfee lists MyDoom as the number one threat. Spreading fast, the worm from 2004 caused an estimated $38 billion USD in damages. MyDoom is followed by 2000’s I Love You worm, and McAfee pegs this one with about $15 billion USD in damages. After that, McAfee lists Conficker, Stuxnet, and Zeus to round out the list.

As for scams, McAfee splits hairs on Phishing and the fake websites often seen with Phishing attempts, counting them as separate incidents. However, the number one scam is Scareware, or the emergence of Rogue anti-Virus applications. Online dating scams, and Nigerian scams also make the list.

The entire report is an interesting read. A copy of it is here.

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