World Cup drives cyber crime

Symantec has rolled out a security initiative to educate online users around cyber crime threats exploiting the 2010 Fifa World Cup, which is just four months away.

Grant Brown, Symantec security specialist, says the Symantec 2010 NetThreat Web site is a proactive measure to build an information platform for online community members to interact with one another, as well as with security experts.

Brown points out: “Web-based attacks such as Trojans, botnets, phishing attempts and spam are going to significantly increase this year, but what will make these attacks different is that more of these attacks will have a 2010 World Cup theme to them.”

Increased broadband capacity, coupled with the tough economic climate, will have serious implications from a threat point of view to South African users, explains Brown.

“What we are going to see is an increase in fraudulent ticketing sales, promising cheaper tickets, as well as malware-infected Web sites providing general information about the World Cup.

“It's a cat-and-mouse game, and as soon as the good guys come up with a preventive measure, the bad guys seem to get around it,” adds Brown.

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