Global Malware Hackers Use Social Media to Escape Cyber Sleuths

Malware has gone global, with Asia and Eastern Europe the two main malware hotspots, according to a new report from an online security company. The company says hackers are using new techniques, such as exploiting social media, to escape detection

According to a report published Tuesday by online security firm FireEye, there were 185 countries hosting "command and control" (C&C) servers in 2012. These servers are the central nodes that send commands to malware-infected computers. By comparison, in 2010 and 2011, the company detected C&C servers in 150 and 130 countries, respectively.

For Rob Rachwald, director of market research at FireEye, the global spread of malware is not only a byproduct of more countries going online and having a stronger infrastructure — it's also because creating malware is becoming relatively easy Read more...