Cyber Fraud

447

14Chapter

Preventing Malicious Code

from “Phoning Home”

Executive Summary

As malicious code production has evolved from a hobbyist’s pursuit to a tool of organized crime,

malicious code has evolved to meet the demands of its new creators. Previously, most malicious

codes made few outbound connections, except for the specific purpose of propagation; the intent

of this early malicious code was only to spread. In recent years, the focus of malicious code has

changed, becoming much more complex. In addition to propagation and resilience, modern mali-

cious codes often have the capability to send spam, act as a proxy, download and execute addi-

tiona ...