Anatomy of a malware attack

Abstract

Jaques Erasmus from anti-malware company Prevx looks at the way malware authors and distributors get their end product to the victim's machine. He explores the routes these coders take and how they achieve the most effective distribution of their newly built malware. In doing so, he touches on a myriad of elements, from malware SDKs, to exploitation packs and loaders. Pulling examples of real world attacks into the article he looks at some trends that are becoming prevalent, and outlines what we can expect for 2009. Since the first PC virus called Brain appeared in January 1986, technologies available to aid the creation and monetisation of malware have undergone tremendous development. We have seen the rise and fall of a variety of different underground groups and are currently fighting a new breed of malware authors and distributors that have honed their tools to monetise as many victims as efficiently as possible. In this article we will focus on the tools that are keeping this criminal ecosystem alive.