Spyware business booming - triples according to Webroot
Another study out today reports that spyware was on the rise in 2005. Security company Webroot, makers of SpySweeper, released the State of Spyware Report for 2005:
Consumers, small businesses and enterprises across the globe all experienced a record number of infection rates for the worst types of spyware in 2005 according to the report which contains data and information on the spyware plague for all of 2005. Most alarming was the rise in the most malicious types of spyware -- Trojan horses and system monitors. For enterprises, between Q3 and Q4 2005, the number of Trojan horse infections increased 9 percent and from Q2 to Q4 2005, the number of system monitors likekeystroke loggers increased 50 percent consecutively each quarter.
"This past year was a boon for spyware criminals. Last month Webroot surveyed U.S. businesses and found that over half of respondents reported a spyware-disruption that resulted in lost revenue, a statistic mirrored by a recent FBI study which surmised that computer-related crimes such as spyware cost U.S. business $62 billion. That is 10 percent more than all identity fraud and over 60 times the cost of telecommunications fraud," said David Moll, CEO of Webroot Software. "This criminal enterprise we call spyware continues to advance in technology and sophistication. As long as the money and opportunities exist, so will spyware."
I tend to agree with Realtechnews.com's statement:
We Say: It’s only going to keep getting worse until this stuff is stopped on the legal level or in their finance department. Everyone knows the companies doing this, it’s not like anonymous virus writers out there, these companies get funding from other companies. Either the money train has to dry up, or something legal will have to be done. Period.
It's all about the money, folks. Spyware pushers making big bucks by trashing users' computers. Note writer Jimmy Daniels says "Everyone knows the companies doing this" [...] Absolutely! Take a look at the top spyware lists of a few vendors:
Webroot's Top Spyware and Adware
Sunbelt Software RealTime Spyware Theats
WinPatrol's Most Detected Mysteryware
Top Ten Viruses and Spyware from Panda Activescan
There you have it.