Malware hits worry Gulf IT managers

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MUSCAT -- The threat landscape in the GCC states is dominated by malware, which accounted for 84.4 per cent of all threats detected on infected computers in the first half of 2009, according to the latest MicrosoftMicrosoft security intelligence report.

The report highlighted that the infection rates within the GCC countries ranging from 6.2 to 20.8 (computers infected per 1,000 executions of the MicrosoftMicrosoft malicious software removal tool) in the first half of 2009 (January-June). Worms, trojans and password stealer tools are the top three malware and potentially unwanted software categories and families detected by all MicrosoftMicrosoft desktop anti-malware products in the region.

Worms accounted for 27.8 per cent of families detected on infected computers in the first half of this year in the GCC. The second-most common category was miscellaneous trojans, accounted for 22.4 per cent detected on infected computers.

Commenting on the preparedness of the regional end users and businesses against such threats, Mark Chaban, commercial market strategy group director, Microsoft Middle East and AfricaMicrosoft Middle East and Africa said different businesses and end users show different levels of preparedness when it comes to securing their systems. "The most important thing to do is to keep yourself educated on how to adequately secure your systems. More often than not, it is not security solutions that are at fault, but rather processes and policies that are followed by businesses and users."

The top trends carrying over from the second half of 2008 include rogue security software proliferation and a continuation of region-specific malware infections. Rogue security software remained a major global threat worldwide. Miscellaneous trojans also remain the top threat category detected and removed, with more than 23.4 million unique samples detected during first half of 2009 - a 41.1 per cent increase from second half of 2008.

Talking about end users security Chaban highlighted that they can enjoy a high level of protection without having to put into place complex defense-in-depth security solutions, by following some basic steps.

"Ensure that the firewall is always turned on. Keep the operating system up-to-date as critical updates offer protection against latest malware. Use updated anti-virus and anti-spyware software. Regularly backup your critical data. Follow basic safety guidelines while browsing the internet or handling suspicious email," he says.

Patterns of malware infections worldwide continued to vary from region to region as the ongoing development of language-specific and culture-specific threats continues.

© Times of Oman 2009