Kaspersky Reveals Malware Trends in Kuwait

Kaspersky Lab, a leading developer of software for secure content management, recently conducted a research, according to which, in Kuwait, the most widespread and the most perilous malicious malware are Trojan horses that contribute to more than 45% of all Internet threats.

R&D Director Maksym Schipka for Kaspersky Lab, Europe, while talking at Kuwait's ICT Security Forum on May 10, 2010, stated that there had been a rise in the total number of malicious programs worldwide to more than 16 Million during 2009 from half a million during 2005. AMEinfo.com published this on May 11, 2010.

Schipka, through his presentation titled "Threat Landscape 2010: Evolution or Revolution?", stated that the modern e-threat scenario had dramatically changed from what it was only some years back. For, in the present time, the signs of threats were frightening, while organizations, government agencies and individuals required to be always warned about the dangers prowling the Internet, prepared to exploit security holes, he added.

Furthermore, according to the security specialists, the quickly rising use of social-networking websites by consumers has introduced considerable lifestyle gains to which cyber-criminals tend to pose a severe risk.

Indeed, since some years now, these websites have been imposing great risks to end-users. In 2008, these sites proved a breeding ground for spam and malware as well as an additional source of illicit incomes online. In fact, in 2008 alone, Kaspersky Lab collected over 43,000 malevolent files that were associated with social-networking websites.

Moreover, malware spread through social-networking websites proves ten times more successful compared to malicious programs distributed through e-mails. Different tactics are employed whereby recipients are made to click on a web-link embedded in e-mails, as well as to download malware.

Meanwhile, Kuwait isn't the sole Middle East country witnessing cyber threats. Its neighbor, UAE observes Miscellaneous trojans as the highly prevalent e-threats. These trojans comprise all Trojan families, which aren't categorized as backdoors or droppers/downloaders. Moreover, these are responsible for 21.2% of the total contaminated PCs. Together, droppers/downloaders and Miscellaneous trojans were responsible for 37% of the total Trojan families that were found in contaminated PCs across UAE during July-December 2009.

Related article: Kaspersky Released Malware Statistics for September 2008

» SPAMfighter News - 5/21/2010