VARs can benefit from ongoing hacking threat

Sophos cybercrime report shows hackers are favouring Trojan Horses over worm attacks

Forty new security threats per day are flooding UK firms and ensuring there is plenty of work for resellers, security vendor Sophos has claimed.

The firm, which released the results of its six-month study into cybercrime last week, said businesses need to be made aware that attacks are on the increase and that hackers are switching from the usual worm method of infection to the Trojan Horse attack tactic.

A rise in ransomware is also being seen, Sophos claimed. This works by kidnapping data, then demanding money to return it. Spyware and phishing are still popular ways of tricking hapless firms into parting with cash.

According to Sophos, emails are cleaner, with one in every 91 emails sent being virus-infected, compared with one in every 35 sent in 2005. But the firm predicts 1,200 new threats this month alone.

Graham Cluely, senior technology consultant at Sophos, said: “With this many new daily threats, firms need to constantly update their defences. A lot of them are only doing this weekly, which is not enough.

“This gives channel partners the opportunity to discuss security strategy with customers to ensure their infrastructure is properly defended.”

Alan Reid, managing director of security distributor Sentryst, said reaching the right people is a major challenge for the channel.

“Large corporates have their systems pretty much locked down,” he said. “If an email comes through with a virus, the company scanners will catch it. Also, most larger firms have an IT manager, which is an easy point of contact for the channel.

“The problem is the smaller business and home users who don’t keep their security software updated. The challenge for resellers is who to contact to get their message across.”