Malicious Mobile Code

Risk Assessment -- High

The very real and readily demonstrated risk presented by remote access and distributed attack Trojans makes this class of malicious mobile code a high risk. With other types of malware, a tape backup can restore lost data with a single day of downtime. However, a RAT can be used to steal corporate secrets, record conversations, and download personal information. The effects of these intrusion devices could be long felt after the original threat is eradicated. Most network administrators, associating Back Orifice with teenage kids playing pranks, are not taking this type of threat serious enough.

Trojans are increasingly being used in coordinated distributed attacks. Significant financial harm can be done without the ability to track down the culprit. The FBI and Justice Department are doing what they can while realizing that their ability to stop such attacks is limited. Significant changes in our Internet infrastructure will have to take place to lessen the exposure risk of Trojans. Add to that the ability of worms to bring the world’s email systems down in a day, and we have a pretty viable threat. In the past, worms and Trojans were considered a sideshow swallowed up in the world of computer viruses. They are now taking center stage, and PC-protection organizations are just beginning to seriously address the threat.