FOREWORD
ItgivesmegreatpleasuretopresentthisQuarterlyThreatIntelligenceReportfromSymantecwhichis
broughttoyoubyITUandundermystewardshipastheSecretaryGeneralofITU.Thisisthefirstina
numberofreportsthatIhopetomakeavailableinanefforttoraiseawarenessabouttheimportanceof
informationsecurity.
Reaffirming ITU’s commitment to building confidence and security in the use of ICTs, on 19
May2011 ITU made new landmarks in the fight against Cyber threats through its public‐private
partnershipwithSymantec.Consequently,ITUhascommittedtobringSymantecsecurityreportstoits
membersonaregularbasis.ThiseffortaimstoinformMemberStatesandincreasetheirunderstanding
and readiness on cyber threats and risks, and ultimately contribute to creating a safer, more secure
cyberspaceforconsumers,businesses,andmostcruciallychildrenandyouthatlarge.
During the third quarter of 2011 (July‐September 2011 edition), the Symantec Quarterly Threat
IntelligenceReporthighlightedtimelinesandtrendsofnotablemaliciousactivitiesobservedduringthe
quarteraswellasthestateofmobilesecurity.Someofthemajorhighlightsofthequarterlyreportwere
thefollowing:

Approximately155millionuniquemaliciouscodethreatswereobservedoverthequarter;

Around1billionattackswereblockedduringthequarter.Duetoattackersrebuildingtheirbotnet
infrastructures,thenumberofattacksincreasedconsiderablyinAugustandSeptember;

The compromise of a popular e‐commerce shopping cart software package affected 6 million
websites;

AttackersarestillfocusedprimarilyontheWebasthebestwaytobreakintocomputers;

Furthermore,analysisalsorevealssocialengineeringbehindmanyoftheseattacks.Attackerstend
to take advantage of events and situations such as natural disasters in packaging and promoting
maliciouscontent;

Symantecroutinelyanalyzesmaliciouscodesamplestodeterminewhichthreatsandattackvectors
are being employed. The report highlights the top ten samples of the quarter, the three most
prevalentofwhichwereSality.AE,RamnitandBamital;

As mobile and smart phone technologies become more prevalent, attacks to such devices are
definitely increasing. The number of threats targeting mobile devices is still significantly low
compared to the number of PC‐based threats, the reasons being better integrated security, and
comparatively lower profit potential for attackers in developing malicious code to target diverse
and fast evolving mobile technologies. Yet, some virus activities and incidents were witnessed
during this period, such as criminals deriving profits from overpriced SMS messages and long
distancecallsinitiatedbymaliciouscodesuchasFakePlayer,GeinimiandPjappsfortheAndroid
OS;

Atpresentmobilemaliciouscodeappearstobeinanexploratoryphasewhereasmallnumberof
ambitious authors are testing the viability of their wares. The threat landscape is beginning to
change as mobile technology grows but traditional computers still remain the most attractive
targets.
Ibelievetheinformationhereinhighlightsthetrendincyberthreats,aswellasareaswhereconcerted
effortsarerequiredinordertocreatearelativelymoresecurecyberspace.Wehavecomealongway
and have achieved a great deal in raising awareness and mitigating cyber risks, thanks to our
partnershipandcommonresolve.
Dr.HamadounTouré
Secretary‐General,ITU