London, April 10, 2008
Panda Security, one of the world’s leading IT security providers, has today announced the global availability of Panda Security for Internet Transactions, an antifraud service for online transactions to protect against identity theft targeting online banks, pay platforms and e-commerce. This service warns companies when there is a targeted attack through malware and offers the tools to identify and block affected users, thereby reducing the possibility of online fraud.
Panda Security for Internet Transactions is Panda’s response to a dramatic increase in online fraud. Today, more than 40% of new malware is designed for online fraud, and according to a recent study conducted by Gartner, phishing attacks caused only in US alone losses to consumers of US$3.2 billion (£1.6bn) in 2007.
This new solution enables banks and businesses with online services to ensure that users launching transactions on their websites are not infected by any malicious code that affects the service. Banks and pay platforms can see the security status of their users and effectively manage the risk involved in online transactions.
Bankinter, a leader in online banking in Spain, has already implemented this solution to protect clients from the risks of online fraud.
Dominic Hoskins, Country Manager, Panda Security UK, stresses that this service does not just benefit online organizations but also their clients, as this new service will assure that their bank details, passwords, and identity information are safe when operating online.
“This is an innovative new service designed to help reduce the risks associated with online transactions across all online payment platforms. It will dramatically reduce the possibility of fraudulent operations as this is the only service on the market offering information about the security status of clients ”, adds Hoskins.
Panda Security for Internet Transactions leverages the benefits of Collective Intelligence, an innovative security model developed by Panda Security. This system is based on the collection of information concerning malware from the Internet community and the automated processing of this data in new, purpose-built data centers. As the knowledge is accumulated on Panda servers and not on clients’ computers, Collective Intelligence rapidly maximizes the detection capacity of Panda solutions while reducing clients’ bandwidth usage and resource consumption.
The benefits that this service offers organizations include:
- Reduction of online fraud: Panda Security for Internet Transactions provides tools and information to stop fraudulent activity. Organizations are rapidly alerted whenever there is a new malware attack targeting their users, and delivered the information needed to respond in time. Organizations will see how malware operates and how they can protect themselves. They can prevent infected users from accessing their website reducing the effects of online fraud.
- Control and management of threats to online transactions: This is the only service on the market offering information about a security status of clients (Advanced Customer Device Information). This can be used by an organization to create risk profiles, meaning the service can be configured to restrict the permission to carry out transactions to those clients that meet pre-determined security requirements.
- Expanding business thanks to improved security: Users’ lack of confidence in online security is one of the prime reasons for their reticence to use Web services. This tool reduces online fraud and allows companies to offer clients a secure environment for online transactions.
- Reduced operating costs: Currently, when users discover that someone has been operating fraudulently using their identity, they claim against the bank or company involved. Consequently, the bank or company is responsible for the loss and associated costs (compensation, insurance,…), and has to ensure that the attack is not further exploited to steal from other users. They have to find the malware responsible for the attack, discover how to block its effects and implement the strategy, and finally, calculate the impact it has had on its users and its business. This usually takes a minimum of 48 hours; sufficient time for the amount of money lost to increase considerably. Thanks to Panda Security for Internet Transactions these costs can be dramatically reduced by blocking the attempted fraud in real time.
Adware caused most infections in Q1 2008
Adware accounted for 28.58% of all infections, Trojans came second with 25.46%
London, April 1, 2008
According to the Q1 2008 report from PandaLabs (Panda Security) adware was the most common malware type in the first three months of the year and accounted for 28.58% of all infections.
New malware in 1st Q
Trojans with 25.46% of all infections, and worms with 9.94%, were the other most prevalent malicious codes.
With respect to new strains that have appeared over the last three months, 62.16% were Trojans, 20.34% were adware and 8.87% were worms.
“The huge amount of new Trojans put in circulation every month indicates that cyber-criminals are interested in creating new strains more frequently, making detection increasingly difficult for security solutions. These fail to update signature files in time, leaving users unprotected”, says Dominic Hoskins, UK Country Manager, Panda Security UK.
As for the most active viruses in the first quarter of 2008, the list is headed by the Comet adware. Another adware NaviPromo has taken second spot while notorious infection spreader Bagle.HX worm came third.
Threats to cell phones
PandaLabs Q1 2008 report includes a specific section on threats to cell phones: Smartphones, iPhones, etc. According to Panda Security’s laboratory, the main threats to these devices are worms, Trojans and spyware (spyphone).
Hoskins explains that their behaviour and features are similar to malicious codes for computers. He adds: “Trojans designed to steal confidential data like email passwords, instant messaging contacts etc. are the most prevalent, with 54.48% of all infections. This shows attacks against cell phones are becoming increasingly sophisticated”.
PandaLabs has outlined the following issues as the most likely to occur as a result of malicious activities targeting smartphones:
Malfunction: cell phone blocking.
Loss of productivity: battery consumption.
Unnecessary costs: sending of SMS to premium numbers.
Loss of data and information: deletion of folders and messages.
Theft of confidential information: phone numbers, SMS or other sensitive data that could be stored in the device.
PandaLabs Q1 2008 report details information on issues such as the main vulnerabilities discovered over the first three months of the year; a recent innovative attack that uses rootkits capable of replacing the computer’s Master Boot record (MBR); or an analysis of the evolution of “Storm Worm”, considered as one of the most prevalent worms in the previous year.
You can download the PandaLabs Quarterly report from http://www.pandasecurity.com/homeusers/security-info/tools/reports
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