Viruses, Worms Will Worsen in 2004

Improved hacker tools, next-generation attacks will cause problems, experts predict. The New Year will offer weary network administrators little respite from a new generation of Internet worms, viruses, and targeted hacks that appeared in 2003, according to security experts. In 2004, malicious hackers will continue to take advantage of security weaknesses, while improvements in hacker tools will shorten the time that technology vendors and their customers have to respond to new vulnerabilities. That’s according to comments by leading security researchers and corporate security experts at the InfoSecurity 2003 Conference and Exhibition in New York this week. The experts, including chief security officers from eBay and Siebel Systems, took part in a panel discussion of security vulnerabilities and so-called “zero-day” exploits — vulnerabilities that are exploited by attackers before software patches have been issued. More of the Same? Attacks that take advantage of holes in the Remote Procedure Call (RPC) communications protocol will continue next year, according to Gerhard Eschelbeck of security company Qualys. RPC vulnerabilities in Microsoft’s products were behind recent worms such as Blaster and Welchia, which spread worldwide in August. While many of those attacks will target Microsoft operating systems, malicious hackers may also look for ways to exploit RPC security holes in Unix and Linux, he said. Full Story