Abstract—Network security policies are essential elements in Internet security. Network security perimeter devices such as firewalls, IPSec, and IDS/IPS devices operate based on locally configured policies. Malware-related data breaches have reached pandemic proportions as criminals discover that Internet crime is easy to commit, highly lucrative, and largely under-policed. With a few hundred dollars, a cyber criminal can begin a career of breaking into computers to steal identity and confidential data for sale to the highest bidder. This paper will cover current and emerging trends of stealth malware, such as moving primarily to the Web since most organizations allow Web traffic into the network. It will also cover new advances in network security technologies that use multi-phase heuristic and virtual machine analysis to detect and mitigate the damages that result from malware-related data thefts.

Index Terms—network security, web threats, malware, phishing  

Cite: S. N. Panda and Vikram Mangla, "Protecting Data from the Cyber Theft – A Virulent Disease," Journal of Emerging Technologies in Web Intelligence, Vol. 2, No. 2, pp. 152-155, May 2010. doi:10.4304/jetwi.2.2.152-155