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Microsoft sees big jump in Trojan downloaders

Posted by Elinor Mills | 12 comments
Computer users are increasingly at risk of being lured to Web sites that surreptitiously download malicious software onto their machines, but stolen or lost laptops still represent most of the security breaches reported, according to a new Microsoft report.
Exploits, malicious software, and hacking accounted for 13 percent of all security breach notifications recorded in the second half of last year, while 57 percent of the breaches publicly disclosed involved lost or stolen equipment, the latest six-month Microsoft Security Intelligence Report says.
"Physical security involving personally identifiable information (breaches) far outweighs Internet and virus-related 'soft' scenarios," said Jimmy Kuo, principal architect of the Microsoft Malware Protection Center.
Of the malicious software attacks, there was a 300 percent increase in the number and proportion of Trojan downloaders and droppers that were detected and removed, according to the report.
Win32/Nuwar, also called the Storm Worm, is an example of a Trojan dropper. It arrives in an e-mail, enticing recipients to visit a Web site, and then installs a Trojan on the computer that provides back-door access. The worm has been continually updated to avoid detection and now more than half a million systems have been infected worldwide creating a botnet, the report says.