Security becomes more of a challenge everyday for website owners and administrators. If it isn’t someone trying to deface your homepage and enrage your audience, it is another looking to commit more heinous acts such as stealing sensitive information or putting your identity in jeopardy. In order to keep yourself protected, it is a must that you stay aware of the emerging threats. Here are a few stirring up some of the most trouble in 2009.
Zombie Armies
Although zombie armies and DDoS attacks on large servers and networks is nothing new, this combined threat continues to be a major problem. Security experts are projecting that the issue will likely worsen as computer systems increasingly rely on wireless connections to the internet. Therefore, while this threat has been around for sometime, you should never get too relaxed and think your website or server is immune to exploitation. On a good note, there are a few methods you have at your disposal that have proven to effectively combat an attack should the enslaved army of computers come your way.
Click Jacking
Another security threat on the rise, click jacking is pretty much what it sounds like: the act of hijacking a click. A perfect example would be an intruder replacing the form button on your site with a button of their own. Doesn’t sound all that menacing? However, consider this – a new customer goes to enter their credit card information via the form on your website. When clicking the button, the user is redirected to a rogue site where they are prompted to enter their financial details. If they happen to fall for this trick, the customer could be out of their funds and you could possibly be out of business for allowing it to happen. Click jacking can be very difficult to detect as the visitor could end up on the fraudulent site without even realizing they have left your domain. Difficulty aside, this is one threat you need to learn how to prevent as it is becoming widespread at a disturbing rate.
Advanced Virus Strains
A number of security reports are showing that virus programs are growing more sophisticated and difficult to detect. Easy access to malicious tools have enabled code writers to create viruses that elude scanners, allowing them to do so with less skills and less effort. These findings give indication that more advanced virus scanning solutions are warranted. Experts are hinting that systems of the very near future may do away with the today’s signature-based scanning in favor of techniques such as application whitelisting or application heuristics. These methods could end up being integral parts of your virus defense mechanisms.
The clan of internet criminals are working overtime to wreak havoc in the year 2009 and beyond. What we have listed in this article are just a few of numerous threats you need to be aware of. In order to ensure an adequate level of protection, we recommend getting together with your administrator or hosting provider to discuss the areas and security issues that concern you the most.
