AFTER the busiest year ever in internet security, experts warn 2004 could be twice as intense. Symantec senior director of security response Vincent Weafer told a Sydney conference the pattern of attacks in 2004 will follow the trend set in 2003, with a major attack every few months.
While mass-mailer attacks still would be the most common, hackers would be looking for more ways to attack a machine, including instant messaging applications, he said. “From an IT point of view they (IT managers) are going to have to start watching all the protocols and all the avenues,” he said. Increasing adoption of Linux by home and corporate users could see it emerge as a greater target for attack in the next one to three years, Mr Weafer said. The number of viruses present in Australia over the past few years has remained constant at between 40 and 55, McAfee security fellow Jimmy Kuo told the Association of Anti-Virus Researchers Asia (AVAR) conference. Full Story