Computer viruses and malware have been around for many years. The malware creators of the late 80s and ‘The ’90s were all about tech-savvy people trying to show off their skills, have a little fun, and test their limits, but times have changed since then.
It all started as fun and games.
The Cascade virus, for example, did not cause any real damage in the sense that it did not alter any files, spy on the infected device, or steal files. It simply caused letters to cascade across the infected device’s screen and pool at the bottom, like leaves falling from a tree. Similarly, the Ping Pong virus showed a ball bouncing back and forth and the worst thing the virus did was crash the computer on certain types of machines.
Back then, viruses and malware spread slowly as they were mainly spread through floppy disks. That meant it could take months for a virus to reach different countries.
Around 1996, macro viruses began to become popular. Macro viruses are viruses designed to live inside Microsoft Word documents. The Internet was gaining some popularity at the time and users began sharing documents, creating an opportunity for virus writers to spread their viruses.
In 1999, email worms appeared, ushering in a new era in the world of computer viruses that would last for years. The Melissa virus was the first macro virus to self-propagate by sending itself to the first 50 email addresses stored in Microsoft Outlook address books. The virus was not “dangerous”, but it caused email servers to crash due to the large number of emails sent at once.
Then, in May 2000, the ILOVEYOU virus was released, infecting more than 10 million Windows computers worldwide. The virus would overwrite files and also be sent to all addresses found in an infected user’s Windows address book.
In 2003, viruses jumped to a whole new level with the Blaster worm, which exploited a vulnerability in Windows and was able to infect any unpatched Windows computer without user interaction by simply having the computer connected to the Internet.
But then, money came into play.
As more aspects of life migrated online, new avenues of profit emerged for hackers. Shortly after financial institutions began to offer internet banking services, the first phishing attacks and banking Trojans appeared. – Malware designed to steal banking credentials appeared. It was the beginning of the era of cybercrime.
In 2004, we saw the first banking Trojans released. These attacks evolved to the point where the professionalism of the developers behind the malware could be seen.
A good example of this was Zeus (aka ZBOT). First seen in 2007, Zeus took user credentials, altered web page forms, and redirected users to fake sites, among other things, and evolved over time. Zeus was ubiquitous on the Internet until 2010 and his offspring are still widespread. Many others followed suit (including Gozi, Emotet and SpyEye) and even today attackers continually develop new variations to thwart detection by security solutions on devices.
Another type of Trojan that became very popular in the early 2000s was the so-called “police virus”, which displayed a message saying that there was illicit content on your computer (pornography, downloaded movies, etc.) and to avoid being prosecuted. , you had to pay a fine. The malware even used the computer’s IP address to locate the user and display a personalized message. For example, if you were in the United States the false warning came from the FBI in English and used the American flag, in Spain it was in Spanish with the local flag.
After that, hackers continued to attack people’s personal data in different ways and make money by using it, selling it on the black market, or even encrypting it and holding it hostage for ransom (ransomware).
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Over time, hackers became more ambitious and soon resorted to targeting larger entities and companies with assets to protect and money to spend on ransoms.
Hackers can now gain access to enterprise networks and data, steal it and encrypt it or make a copy and threaten to release it to the public unless a ransom is paid. And this has proven to be a very profitable business.
Throughout 2020, there was a huge increase in the number of ransomware attacks, which factors related to the COVID-19 pandemic have further exacerbated. Statistics from Avast confirm that ransomware grew by 20 per cent during March and April compared to January and February 2020. Organizations such as Isentia, BlueScope, MyBudget, Toll Group, Lion, the Northern Territory government and Services New South Wales are among some of the organizations that confirmed they had been subjected to a ransomware attack in 2020.
With the number of Internet users and the increase in innovation in software and applications, cybercriminals have become real entrepreneurs who work independently and in gangs. As a result, their motives have changed from showing off, testing their skills, and playing games to being financially motivated.
Instead of demonstrating their skills, breaking the rules and causing chaos, most of today’s cybercriminals just want to make more money. A recent global study confirmed that 86 percent of data breaches in 2020 were financially motivated. It is now our job to protect ourselves and others as best we can and make sure that cybercriminals have the hardest time making a living.
Luis Corrons is a security expert at Avast.
