Unlike mass computer virus attacks – that aim to infect as many computers as possible – targeted attacks use a totally different approach. Instead, targeted attacks try to infect the network of a single targeted company or organisation – or apply a specially developed Trojan agent to a single server on the organisation’s network infrastructure.
Who’s being targeted?
Cybercriminals often target businesses that process or store information that can be exploited by the criminal for personal gain. Typical targets include:
- Banks
Criminals will attack a bank’s servers or network, in order to access information and illegally transfer funds from customers’ bank accounts. - Billing companies – such as telephone companies
When a billing company is singled out for an attack, the criminals are generally looking to access customer accounts or steal valuable information – such as customer databases, financial information or technical data.
Getting past corporate security
Because large companies – that are normally the subject of targeted computer virus attacks – will often have a high level of IT security, the cybercriminals may need to employ some particularly cunning methods. With most organisations benefiting from a firewall and other protective measures against external attacks, the criminal may look for assistance from within the organisation:
- Phishing
Employees may unwittingly assist the criminal by responding to phishing emails – that pretend to be from the company’s IT department – asking the employee to enter their corporate system access password… for testing purposes. - Using a false identity
In some cases, criminals may use personal information that they’ve gathered from social networking websites, in order to assume the identity of an employee’s colleague – so that the phishing request for usernames and passwords looks as if it has genuinely been sent by a colleague. This helps to ensure that employees do not become suspicious when asked to enter their password.
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