Small and Midsized Businesses (SMBs) are Falling Prey to Targeted Phishing Attacks and Bing Malware

Recent computer security trends suggest that small and midsize businesses (SMBs) are being targeted by a bombardment of emerging seditious computer security threats. For years now, SMBs have been the target of far fewer cyber security threats than their larger counterparts, but now it seems as though they are being assaulted, from all sides, by seditious cyber threats.

Various reports from within the online computer security industry have done much more than merely suggest that SMBs are coming under fire and being attacked from multiple directions. Delving into the specifics of this issue, several reports drawn up by experts from within the industry have expressed the factuality that SMBs are being particularly and especially assaulted by targeted phishing and Bing malware products.

SMBs Under Attack: Targeted Phishing and Bing Malware

The facts revealed in many security-related reports from within the online computer security community paint a vivid picture, which illustrated that, for many SMBs, targeted phishing is increasingly becoming more of a particularly worrisome issue; and in terms of Bing malware posing a serious problem for many SMBs, several new reports have established that the Bing search engine is being utilized by cybercriminals to launch malicious attacks against many smaller business enterprises.

In specific terms of this latter issue of Bing malware, it is not an issue of Bing intentionally promoting or propagating any kind of malicious computer products. Rather, the problem lies in some of the search engine's sponsored results.

For many of us, it is not fresh news that malevolent cybercriminals often employ corrupt web domains that they have infused and infected with a variety of dangerous and harmful computer threats that specialize in propagating malware products - namely, deceptive rogue anti-spyware/anti-virus programs – to do their bidding; nor is it considered new news that the same cybercriminals - behind the existence of these infected web domains - work to force their corrupt websites to the top of various search engines' generated results listings, in order to infiltrate unknowing, unsuspecting, and gullible users' computer systems by employing malicious products, such as rootkits.

SMBs and Targeted Phishing Practices

As many are already well aware, the seditious art of phishing has been a long enduring favorite scamming technique of cybercriminals, hackers, and scammers alike, but in recent months this long lasting brand of computer security threat has become a new kind of monster and has taken on the form of what is now known as 'targeted phishing.'

The scamming tactic of targeted phishing can be defined as the practice of employing various kinds of personal information gathered on a particular mark to convince him or her to open malicious email attachments.

In other words, by making it seems as though the email in question originates from a known source or by utilizing an individual's personal information in such a way that makes them trust the email for one reason or another, targeted phishing is meant to more successfully convince its targets to open infected email attachments.

One of the more recent trends that is being noted with some regularity, within the online computer security community, is the fact that many large companies and corporations have taken it upon themselves to seriously tighten up their security measures.

Thus, it has become increasingly more difficult for cybercriminals to launch successful attacks against larger business enterprises, and one major result of this tightening of security measures by large corporations is that many scammers and hackers have turned to SMBs for a newer pool of targets. In fact, Symantec's Skeptic system has shown that nearly half of the targeted attacks, discovered every single day, are being aimed directly at SMBs with around 500 employees or less.

SMBs and Malicious Bing-Related Malware Products

A clear picture of the pitfalls and dangers that can arise from visiting malicious web domains and corrupt websites has been painted for computer users by many computer security experts, and it has been specifically reported that GFI software recently discovered that various results listings being sponsored on Bing's search engine are working to expertly dupe users who are attempting to search for Adobe Flash downloads.

These malicious websites were found to be redirecting users who attempted to search for various Adobe Flash-related software products to infected web domains that claimed to offer the most recent versions of the Adobe Flash software. While claiming to distribute authentic Adobe Flash downloads, these corrupt websites were actually propagating a particularly powerful and harmful bit of malware, known as Sirefef (i.e. ZeroAccess or Max++).

What's more, this is not the first time that such problematic web domains were discovered finding their way to the top of Bing's search results listings, and as Bing also controls the results listings generated by Yahoo's search engine, these types of issues comprise a potentially serious security threat to all computer users who regularly utilize these search engines. Google's search engine was once plagued in a similar manner, and this reality gives many users hope that these types of issues will be resolved by Bing in no time.

With all of this said, however, it seems important to address the fact that the ultimate issue here is not the malware products maliciously circulating various Bing search results listings; instead, this serious problem is actually the ease with which unknowing computer users are able to accidentally download horrible, fear-inducing malware products off of the Internet.

What is Being Done to Aid SMBs in Better Protecting Their Systems' Security?

One way that both the government and computer security professionals are attempting to assist SMBs in the process of tightening up their computer security measures is the FCC's decision to create a web domain devoted to helping SMBs protect themselves and their systems' from becoming the victims of spiteful cyber attacks and computer security threats.

The FCC-produced website contains a listing of various measures that small business owners can employ to protect their companies, and the website's list of suggestions contains obvious, well-known listings, as well as interesting, little known methods of protection against cyber crime.

The suggestions provided by the FCC are an excellent starting point for any SMB looking to tighten up their company's computer security procedures, but as there is no one, single method or technique that provides absolute guaranteed protection against cyber crime, being aware of the risks involved and always remaining consistently vigilant against security threats is one of the best, possible ways of guarding you and your business against cyber crime.

As always, the best defense makes for an excellent offense.