Protecting Client Systems from the Crimeware Invasion

The IT threat landscape has changed from one where individual glory-seeking hackers work to see how many network operations they can disrupt to one where organized crime makes a concerted and financially motivated effort to silently steal confidential information from specific organizations.

Ignoring traditional IT perimeter defenses, this new breed of hackers enters networks though the backdoor, frequently hitching rides on laptops, tunneling into the network through VPN connections opened by remote users, sneaking in via smartphones, or hijacking instant messaging sessions. Once on the inside, they employ complex, stealthy crimeware methods to collect passwords, credit card information, bank account numbers, customer records, or any other type of information that they can profit from. The true goal of these new attacks is to gain unauthorized access to your systems and information on an ongoing basis.