2010: The Year Of P2P Vulnerabilities

2010 was never different from any of the previous years because the activities and evolution of malware has remained constant. In fact, the trends of malware attacks on how they infect computer systems and on how they can damage the system’s structure have less or no change at all. Even with this case, there are some malicious activities in the Internet that have progressed and changed dramatically.

However, the rate of malware detection has remained stable ever since the year 2009. Still, with the stable numbers of malware detection rates, cyber attacks on web browsers and the proliferation of botnets on the Internet remains the most prevalent threat in to cyber security. But according to a computer forensics training expert, fortunately there has been a slight downturn in events or illegal activity that is connected with certain malware.

Even with the number of threats cyber security has to face each year, many experts have predicted that more and more vulnerabilities will appear from the year 2010 and beyond. As a matter of fact, in the first quarter of 2010 alone, a lot of vulnerabilities have been brought to light such as the vulnerabilities in the Adobe software. These vulnerabilities have been the most critical areas of the network infrastructure because cyber criminals will always exploit these vulnerabilities, penetrating the computers security network to accomplish their dark deeds.

Back in 2009, many experts have predicted that many cyber crime and cyber threats will surely evolve in 2010 and new vulnerabilities will surely appear. Some paid attention to their warnings, but some didn’t believe that any of those threats aren’t likely to happen in their system. One of those possible vulnerabilities that was said to appear in 2010 was the vulnerabilities in Person to Person or P2P networks.

Indeed, those experts were correct; there has been an increase of cyber attacks that were conducted via person to person networks. Those who did not pay attention to the warning had to pay for their mistakes not by cash alone but by blood, sweat and tears as well. Overall, the victims of these attacks done via P2P networks lost not only their important data, but they also lost significant amount of funds and investment because their systems have been compromised and their company name has been smeared with controversies. If the companies paid attention to the warning and established a guideline in using P2P networks for their employees, they could have averted disaster.

According to a number of experts, P2P networks are one of the primary channels on how cybercriminals can transport their malware on the Web nowadays. It has been estimated that P2P networks come second to web browser attacks in terms of breaches and other incidences on network security. P2P networks are used in distributing all sorts of cyber threats which includes computer viruses, rogue anti-virus software, Trojan horses, spyware, adware, backdoors and computer worms. Furthermore, P2P networks have become the best breeding ground and effective means of transportation for new threats in the network security like the ArchSMS.

Experts in security, security industries and computer forensics experts agree that a huge number of cyber criminal activities in 2010 were from P2P networks. Likewise they have stated that the most popular P2P networks used by cyber criminals are the BitTorrent, Gnutella and eDonkey. The reason behind this is the fact that these networks provide cheaper means in sharing files, applications, images, videos, programs, software and any other downloadable content available in the Internet. The only thing an Internet user will do is look for the content they want to download and use the P2P networks to download them. Indeed, it is easy and convenient, but it is also the same for cyber criminals.

At the start of 2010, many companies and individuals weren’t aware about the P2P problems until it March came. According to Kapersky, one of the leading industries in network securities, they have recorded millions of P2P incidences each month, bringing the incident into a troubling conclusion – there is a P2P malware epidemic in the Web.

Threats from P2P networks are still not totally eliminated nowadays. The only trick individuals can do is increase the security of their computers by installing better security programs. Industries on the other hand must have strict guidelines regarding the use of P2P networks within their company premises as well as having better security and a ready network security team complete with security trainings like computer forensic course.

The International Council of E-Commerce Consultants (EC-Council) is a member-based organization that certifies individuals in cybersecurity and e-commerce. It is the owner and developer of 20 security certifications. EC-Council has trained over 90,000 security professionals and certified more than 40,000 members. These certifications are recognized worldwide and have received endorsements from various government agencies. They also offer trainings in computer forensic.

More information about EC-Council is available at www.eccouncil.org.