Webwasher Proactive Scanning

A major shift in the motivation of malware authors has been reported by most security vendors since 2004: malware is increasingly written for profit, not questionable “fame.” International criminal groups have established a professional malware market in 2004. Examples of this change towards profit-oriented usage of malware are the growth in:

• Bots. Trojans with backdoor functionality, also referred to as “bots,” are on the rise, either replacing or combined with mail worm functionality. Through the established backdoor, malware authors gain control over large networks of compromised computers, the so-called “bot nets,” that they offer for rental. According to an investigation by Symantec, prices for bot nets start at $300 for about 150,000 remotely controlled computers, allowing tenants to relay bulk unsolicited e-mail (spam), perform large-scale Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks, and other criminal operations.