Cisco has released the Cisco® 2009 Midyear Security Report, which shows that Internet criminals are increasingly operating like successful businesses, borrowing some of the best strategies from legitimate companies and forming partnerships with one another to help make their illegal activities more lucrative.

Highlights of the report include:

• *The Conficker worm, which began infecting computer systems late last year by exploiting a Windows operating system vulnerability, continues to spread. Several million computer systems were under Conficker's control as of June 2009.
   
• Online criminals are up on current events and making the most of them. After the outbreak of H1N1 influenza ("swine flu") in April, cybercriminals quickly blanketed the Web with spam that advertised preventive drugs and linked to fake pharmacies. Cybercriminals will often seize on major news events to launch this type of attack.  While many spammers continue to operate with extremely high volumes, some are opting for lower-volume but more frequent attacks in an effort to remain under the radar.
   
• President Barack Obama has made strengthening U.S. cybersecurity a high priority for his administration and looks to work with the international community and the private sector to leverage technology innovations to reduce cybercrime. This focus is expected to have a significant positive impact for the industry in the coming months. John N. Stewart, Cisco's chief security officer and a contributor to the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) report for the Obama administration, provided additional insight in a recent blog and video blog post.

"Securing the Internet has long been a moving target as criminals develop increasingly sophisticated ways to breach corporate networks and obtain valuable personal data," says Patrick Peterson, Cisco fellow and chief security researcher. "What is striking in our latest findings is how, in addition to using their technical skills to cast a wide net and avoid detection, these criminals are also demonstrating some strong business acumen. They are collaborating with each other, preying on individuals' greatest fears and interests, and increasingly making use of legitimate Internet tools like search engines and the software-as-a-service model. Some also continue to succeed using well-documented methods that in recent years have been downplayed as threats given the preponderance of new tactics. With criminals being so quick to identify weaknesses both in online networks and in consumers' psyches, businesses need to adopt ever more advanced ways to fight cybercrime and remain vigilant across all attack vectors."