Cat and mouse game advances in the virtual world

Dubai: While we witness cops with faster and sleeker cars pursue criminals with smarter gadgets, there is another chase occurring on roads that we cannot see but feel the brunt of nonetheless.

Since the advent of the internet, criminals found means of being a nuisance as cybercriminals. Now, they have become a danger to corporations, business and individuals.

According to a report by Trend Micro Incorporated, internet content security has reported a surge in the past six month as a result of cybercriminals using technologies to spread cybercrime and "reinventing forms of social engineering to cleverly ensnare both consumers and businesses."

Simultaneously, there has been a decrease in adware and spyware that are generated by out dated technical methods and cannot pass through the high-level security solutions.

Samer Malak, channels manager, Middle East at McAfee, a company that specialises in intrusion prevention and security risk management, said, "Criminals have not only become smarter but now they are driven by money. Ten years ago, they were driven by self esteem, trying to prove their hacking skills. Now, 95 per cent of cybercrime is driven by the need to steal money."

Social networking sites such as 'Facebook,' video sharing and voice over internet protocol (VoIP) sites, free e-mail service providers, banks and popular e-commerce websites are being increasingly targeted for phishing attacks.

"Criminals and hackers interested in stealing identities have just started to create new ways to try steal people's user names and passwords and credit card numbers through 'Facebook', Malak said, speaking on the level of security.