Educause Security Discussion mailing list archives

Re: Cyberattacks Down?


From: Barbara Griffith <Barbara.Griffith () COLORADO EDU>
Date: Wed, 8 Dec 2004 13:25:51 -0700

On the topic of whether things are getting better or worse and for whom,
has anyone seen anything like this or agree or disagree with the
prediction? 

"Next year will also see a leap in the number of scams targeted at
specific organizations and companies, Staley said. "Blackmail and
extortion will be even more popular next year," she predicted. Already,
MessageLabs has proof of blackmail-like schemes where criminals have
threatened to send out child pornography under the name of a particular
firm, or have promised -- and delivered -- denial-of-service attacks on
online gambling sites if victims don't pay "protection" fees."

http://www.informationweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml;?articleID=553000
69

My personal prediction: I've always been intrigued by the level of
psychological button-pushing managed by even crudely constructed worms,
much less phishing-type specimens. I figure that the social engineering
will get even more clever, to shock and frighten people into forgetting
to be cautious. 

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