Good morning my fellow American computer users. I am often asked the why, how and where from regarding computer hackers. Being as it is within the realm of my expertise, I felt it is vital that I share this tidbit of information. Firstly, it is important to know just how many active computer users there are in the world (for perspectives sake). Accordingly, I am going to post an average of internet users by country, from most to least. The below chart is in millions.
Now that you have seen those numbers, you'll be suprised to see where these hack attacks are coming from. Without need for a graph or any other comparision, I will state for the record who the number one hacking country is and what sector is the springboard for this activity. The problems associated with this suprising trend resides in the fact that not only are they educated here, but we have also employed them and have given them access to our critical communications infrastructure for the sake of saving money for our US owned companies. They are our fellow Americans.
1. United States
The United States topped in overall malicious activity measured by Symantec, with 19 percent of the total in 2009. This is a drop from 23 per cent in 2008.
The United States was the country of the most bot-infected computers observed by Symantec in 2009, accounting for 11 per cent of the global total, a slight decrease from 12 percent in 2008.
It also topped as the No.1 country of origin for Web-based attacks in 2009, accounting for 34 per cent of the worldwide total. So sad.
2. China
China is ranked second in the list in terms of bots and origin of most attacks.
It is ranked sixth in terms of phishing hosts and eighth in terms of spam zombies. China was at the same position last year also.
3. Brazil
Brazil became more prominent in all of the specific category measurements in 2009 except for spam zombies, where it was already the top-ranked country.
Brazil's significant increases across all categories are related to the growing Internet infrastructure and broadband usage there.
The growing level of malicious code activity affecting Brazil has also resulted in the proposal of a new cybercrime bill in the country. The initiative may also be a result of a number high-profile cyber attacks there in recent years.
One of the attacks resulted in a massive power grid blackout, while another resulted in the exposure of valuable data and a $350,000 ransom request after a government website was compromised. The latter case resulted in over 3,000 employees being unable to access the site for 24 hours.
4. Germany
Germany ranks second in terms of phishing hosts and third in terms of origin of attacks. In terms of spam zombies, it is ranked 7th and is second in hosting phishing.
5. India
India saw a surge in malicious activity in 2009, moving from 11th for overall malicious activity in 2008 to fifth in this period. In 2009, India also accounted for 15 percent of all malicious activity in the Asia-Pacific/Japan (APJ) region, an increase from 10 per cent in 2008.
For specific categories of measurement in the APJ region, India increased rank in malicious code, spam zombies and phishing hosts from 2008. Its high ranking in spam zombies also contributed to India being the third highest country of spam origin globally.
Malicious activity tends to increase in countries experiencing rapid growth in broadband infrastructure and connectivity, and the level of malicious activity occurring in India has been increasing steadily over several reporting periods as its broadband infrastructure and user base grows.
Of note: Russia has fallen from number 2 as the busiest hacking contry in the world, but are still in the top ten. Just sayin'.
So there you have it. You need not look any further than your own neighborhood for common attacks. Shore up your network security (wired and wireless), keep your system and antivirus up to date and of course, should you encounter an issue . . . Well, just call Caincorp.NET of course!
Until later,
Caincorp.NET
(612)396-7623
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