McAfee Malware Latest News: McAfee Labs released the McAfee Labs Threats Report: Fourth Quarter 2013. This report climaxes the role of malware industries as a key enabler of the data breaches in consumer credit card information and identity stealing in fall 2013. Security firm McAfee reported that the number of malware samples found over the last year has tripled.
The rising cybercrime space also known as the dark web is documented in the 2013 last quarter with being a significant factor in some of the most widely-reported and hardest-hitting breaches in 2013 -- namely the attack on Target, stealing the personal data of more than 70 million customers over a few weeks, reported ZD Net.
The McAfee Labs Threats Report revealed that "The attackers purchased off-the-shelf point-of-sale malware, they made straightforward modifications so they could target their attacks, and it's likely they both tested their target's defenses and evaded those defenses using purchased software."
According to WebPro News, McAfee Labs' ongoing research into underground dark web further identified the attempted sale of stolen credit card numbers and personal information known to have been compromised in the Q4 retail breaches. The researchers found that some of the 40 million credit card numbers reported were stolen in batches of between 1 million and 4 million at a time and offered for sale by thieves.
Vincent Weafer, senior vice president for McAfee Labs said "The fourth quarter of 2013 will be remembered as the period when cybercrime became 'real' for more people than ever before. These cyber thefts occurred at a time when most people were focused on their holiday shopping and when the industry wanted people to feel secure and confident in their purchases. The impact of these attacks will be felt both at the kitchen table as well as the boardroom table. For security practitioners, the 'off the shelf' genesis of some of these crime campaigns, the scale of operations, and the ease of digitally monetizing stolen customer data all represent a coming of age for both Cybercrime-as-a-Service and the 'dark web' overall."
As cited in the ZD News report, the big problem here is that it causes confusion for users and administrators alike in authenticating safe software. The McAfee Labs team asserted this strand of malware is being fed by an "abuse of automated Content Distribution Networks (CDNs) that wrap malicious binaries within digitally signed, otherwise legitimate installers."
Other forms of malware predictably continue to rise. Android malware grew by 197 percent from the end of 2012, while the number of suspect URLs jumped by 70 percent during the same time frame.
The McAfee Labs team is composed of approximately 500 researchers across 30 countries who are responsible for publishing the regularly scheduled report.
