Botnets predicted as major security threat in 2005

Botnets could be one of the major security threats of 2005, according to a security company.

Peter Croft, managing director at Clearswift Asia Pacific, said even the most trusted websites could be at risk of botnets and become staging posts to launch attacks.

Clearswift describes botnets as "armies of compromised or zombie PCs used to launch denial of service attacks and to send spam".

“Botnets form large, rapidly evolving families and -- if left unchecked -- will proliferate until much of the internet resembles a mosaic of botnets,” said Croft.

Among its other predictions for the top threats this year, Clearswift anticipates phishing scams to grow in sophistication. The vendor also believes multi-functional malware attacks will further intensify during 2005.

“The move of criminals online will continue to drive the evolution of malicious threats and we’re likely to see many more high profile security breaches over the next 12 months,” Croft said.

“As organised criminal groups become more technically experienced, the commercial sector will present an increasingly attractive target for brand hijacks and DDoS-based extortion rackets and also data theft, probably aided by bribed insiders."