Broadband aiding malware devs: Sophos
Small businesses are not the only ones to improve their bottom line from better broadband services, with malware developers changing their methods to also reap the benefits.
Sophos Asia-Pacific's head of technology, Paul Ducklin, said that the reason malware development has changed so much from the late 1980s is that there is now a significant amount of money to be made.
Ducklin said that early security experts previously thought that malware was just going to be about political statements, data damage and malicious injury to property. Early malware of the 1980s involved physically mailing out floppy disks, which were easily traceable, cost prohibitive and slow to propagate.
"We got away with [staying relatively safe] for 10 or 11 years after this, because there was no vehicle for criminals to cash out," Ducklin said.
However, with broadband networks, higher connectivity and greater ease of doing business online, malware has become a lucrative business.
Leaked financial information from an illegal pharmaceutical scheme showed that over a 12-day period, affiliates in the scheme could be making up to $16,000 per day.
Similar leaked information from an illegal software distribution scheme showed that while the vast majority of participants earned very little, several individuals earned six figures over a two-week period, with one individual netting close to $160,000.
Ducklin said that malware developers continue to change in order to make better use of the web and broadband connections.
"In the old days, when we got malware, it was self-contained. By grabbing that sample, we had everything we needed to understand how it operated, so we could operate under a simulated environment. These days, most malware goes out and fetches its payload [instructions] at the very last possible minute," he said.
However, although the technology has changed, Ducklin believes that money is still the driving force behind malware.
"The more we can restrict them [malware developers] without removing our own civil liberties to prevent them cashing out, the better the chance we've got today."