[ISN] 2003 viruses caused $55B damage, antivirus firm says

From: InfoSec News (isn@private)
Date: Sun Jan 18 2004 - 22:52:38 PST

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    http://www.computerworld.com/securitytopics/security/story/0,10801,89138,00.html
    
    Story by Jennifer Tan
    JANUARY 16, 2004
    REUTERS
    
    Computer virus attacks cost global businesses an estimated $55 billion
    in damages in 2003, a sum that would rise this year, said Trend Micro
    Inc., the world's third-largest antivirus software maker.
    
    Companies lost roughly $20 billion to $30 billion in 2002 from the
    virus attacks, up from about $13 billion in 2001, according to various
    industry estimates.
    
    "The economic and financial impact of virus attacks will continue to
    climb in 2004," Lionel Phang, Trend Micro's Managing Director told
    Reuters in an interview. He did not have a forecast for the year.
    
    Spam threats and network viruses will likely become more prevalent in
    2004, he said. "The spam threat will increase exponentially, and will
    become the hideouts for viruses and hacking programs trying to gain an
    entry into the network," he added.
    
    "Blended threats also will remain the standard way to attack networks,
    where one virus file will create four to five different activities
    within the system."
    
    Phang offered the following example of a blended threat: a
    spam-generating virus causes a surge in the company's network traffic
    and prompts its network administrators to block the junk e-mail, and
    while technicians try to fix the spam problem the virus drops a
    program into the system that monitors keystrokes and steals company
    passwords and user IDs.
    
    Viruses can gain entry into computer networks via instant messaging
    channels, such as Internet Relay Chat (IRC) programs and Time Warner
    Inc.'s ICQ service, Phang added.
    
    Natasha David, an analyst with International Data Corp., said spam
    would emerge as the key transmission vehicle for viruses in 2004.
    
    "Spammers are going to put viruses and worms in e-mail attachments, so
    [junk email] will become more than just a nuisance," she said.
    
    According to IDC, the global market for secure content management,
    which includes antivirus solutions, message security and Web
    filtering, is expected to hit $6.4 billion in 2007, representing a
    compound annual growth rate of 19%.
    
    One attack every month
    
    Last year, there was almost one major virus attack every month,
    including the well-known Slammer worm, which shut down Internet
    service providers in South Korea, disrupted plane schedules and
    knocked out automatic teller machines in January.
    
    The Lovegate Internet e-mail worm surfaced in February, while the
    Bugbear and SoBig viruses, which spread via infected emails, appeared
    in June.
    
    Analysts said the number of attacks between January and June 2003
    exceeded 70,000, which is about twice the rate for 2002.
    
    "About 20 to 40 new and variant virus threats were reported to Trend
    Micro on a daily basis worldwide in 2003," Phang said.
    
    The company plans to focus on products and services for the small and
    medium businesses this year.
    
    "This is the most vulnerable market segment in 2004 as their awareness
    level is really low, they do not have the dedicated IT expertise, and
    have a false sense of security about virus attacks, thinking they are
    too small a target for such attacks," Phang said.
    
    
    
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