Hackers looking towards alternative Non-MS Targets

Hackers looking towards alternative Non-MS Targets

Microsoft has always been targeted by the media (including TechWhack) of being the most targeted software application developer around. However, the latest reports say that the hackers and the coders of malicious programs have now started to look at alternative applications like the anti-virus softwares and non-Microsoft media players like the very popular Apple iTunes.

This is what an analysis of the first couple of months of the current year shows. As the users move on to alternatives of the popular applications out there, so are the hackers with the aim of getting control of the victim’s computer by installing spywares, worms and viruses. Another reason for these new findings is the way users update their windows Operating System.

With broadband becoming common around the world, users keep their Automatic Windows Update option enabled which makes sure that the applications on the system are updated with the latest patches and updates. More and more applications are coming out with automatic updates features, which make it easier to stay up-to-date.

This research was conducted by the nonprofit SANS Institute whose Chief Executive Alan Paller said in the report: “Operating systems have gotten better at finding and fixing things and auto-updating, so it’s less fertile territory for the hackers”.

One of the primary reasons hackers want to get access to the user’s computers is to gain access to private information like the credit card numbers and the like. Another big reason is to use the victim’s computer to send out spam mails and other malicious purposes. This can lead to a possible big scale Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) Attack.

The report also said that almost 600 security holes related to software applications have already been discovered in this year alone. This means more than 60 bugs are being discovered on a daily basis. This makes it quite clear that why it is very important to stay up-to-date with the latest bulletins from security application companies.

However, being the most used Operating System around… Windows continued to be the number 1 target for these developers.