Cyber-Spy Malware Eavesdrops on Corporate, Government Targets Worldwide

More than 200 unique families of malware have been used to eavesdrop on corporate and government employees, including attacks on the Japanese government, according to the results of a study of cyber-espionage activities released on July 25.

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Unlike the massive botnets used by cyber-criminals to steal cash, such as the "Gameover" Zeus botnet, the espionage botnets typically consist of hundreds of compromised computers rather than tens or hundreds of thousands.

Most of the activity traces back to China, but some spying does not, including espionage carried out by a private security company that advertised “ethical” hacking courses, according to Joe Stewart, director of malware research at managed security provider Dell Secureworks, which carried out the investigation. In total, Stewart identified more than 1,100 domain names used in the attacks and registered by online spies. (more)