USB 'auto run threats' a growing concern

The biggest threat to the data stored on your personal computer in New Zealand is not the internet but USB sticks, says an international security expert.

Mark Harris, the United Kingdom based vice president of SophosLabs which makes antivirus software for the business sector, told the Waikato Times the most common threat in New Zealand was USB keys.

"The most common threats (in New Zealand) appear to be spread by USB keys, which is interesting," Mr Harris, who was visiting SophosLabs in Sydney, said.

"A bigger proportion, around 8.5 per cent of what we see in New Zealand, are what we call auto run threats from USB keys. USB keys are more common in this part of the world than other countries."

Auto run threats, also known as self executable files, are programs which automatically run themselves after finding their way onto machines. Some are annoying, causing pop up windows containing advertising, while others send on your computer activity to cyber criminals intent on illegal activity.

Mr Harris said many of the self executable files found on New Zealand computers posed little, or no, threat to the users, as they were written by "script kiddies" who just wanted to show off their abilities

"They are very simple, from Singapore or Malaysia," he said.

But that did not mean people should be complacent.

Six years ago, when Mr Harris became vice president of SophosLabs, the malware and threat detection company was seeing 10,000 new threats per week. Now it's 180,000 threats per day.

"These are new pieces of malware (malicious software) that we have not seen before. It's a big problem, I don't think people realise."

Part of SophosLabs modus operandi is to deliver inoculations against new malware, for businesses running its software, within three minutes of it being discovered. Such inoculations prevent the malware from downloading itself and running on computers.

Asked whether he thought that was down to slower internet speeds causing people to share files through physical devices, such as USB keys and external hard disk drives, rather than through the internet Mr Harris said he thought so.

"People have taken their USB keys into the local shop to get their photos printed and come back with an infected USB key," Mr Harris said.

Another big threat, which has emerged in the last year or so, was the prevalence of smart phones.

Google's Android phones, whose application store is unregulated and open to malware, are outselling other smart phones. Users who plug them into work computer, to access files created on them, risk passing on malware.