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Latest Fortinet Threat Landscape Research Shows Re-Emergence of Torpig Botnet

^{Published on 2011-04-13 06:10:26 - Market Wire}
 

SUNNYVALE, CA--(Marketwire - April 13, 2011) - Fortinet® (NASDAQ: [ FTNT ]) -- a leading network security provider and the worldwide leader of [ unified threat management ] (UTM) solutions -- today announced its latest 30-day [ Threat Landscape ] research, which showed the re-emergence of the Torpig botnet, accounting for 30 percent of new botnet activity. Most command and control detections for Torpig originated from machines in Russia and Sudan. By comparison, the [ Hiloti botnet ] accounted for roughly 15 percent of new botnet traffic -- the majority of which was found in Australia and Sweden.

"The rigid Torpig botnet has been around for years and typically spreads through infected Web pages installed with a rootkit (mebroot) that infects a system right from the master boot record," said Derek Manky, senior security strategist at Fortinet. "Since this compromises the chain of trust from the get-go, mebroot has the ability to bypass personal firewalls through the operating system. Gateway security can mitigate this threat by blocking mebroot related traffic."

Spam Activity
Spam rates continue to remain lower than average at about 30 percent following the takedown of the Rustock botnet in March. While rates remain low, the number of spamming IPs (machines) has not taken a large drop. Most spamming IP addresses observed were geolocated to machines in the U.S., India and Brazil.

"Oftentimes machines are infected with multiple viruses or botnets that can continue to send spam and siphon data, despite one threat being mitigated," Manky said.

About FortiGuard Labs
FortiGuard Labs compiled threat statistics and trends for the last four weeks based on data collected from FortiGate® network security appliances and intelligence systems in production worldwide. Customers who use Fortinet's [ FortiGuard Services ] should be protected against this vulnerability with the appropriate configuration parameters in place.

[ FortiGuard Services ] offer broad security solutions including antivirus, intrusion prevention, Web content filtering and anti-spam capabilities. These services help protect against threats on both application and network layers. FortiGuard Services are updated by FortiGuard Labs, which enables Fortinet to deliver a combination of multi-layered security intelligence and zero-day protection from new and emerging threats. For customers with a subscription to FortiGuard, these updates are delivered to all FortiGate®, FortiMail™ and FortiClient™ products.

The most recent [ Threat Landscape research ], which includes the top threat rankings in several categories and specific regions, is available now. Ongoing research can be found in the [ FortiGuard Center ] or via [ FortiGuard Labs ]' [ RSS feed ]. Additional discussion on security technologies and threat analysis can be found at the [ Fortinet Security Blog ] and Fortinet's monthly [ Security Minute videocast ].

About Fortinet ([ www.fortinet.com ])
Fortinet (NASDAQ: [ FTNT ]) is a worldwide provider of network security appliances and the market leader in unified threat management (UTM). Our products and subscription services provide broad, integrated and high-performance protection against dynamic security threats while simplifying the IT security infrastructure. Our customers include enterprises, service providers and government entities worldwide, including the majority of the 2009 Fortune Global 100. Fortinet's flagship FortiGate product delivers ASIC-accelerated performance and integrates multiple layers of security designed to help protect against application and network threats. Fortinet's broad product line goes beyond UTM to help secure the extended enterprise -- from endpoints, to the perimeter and the core, including databases and applications. Fortinet is headquartered in Sunnyvale, Calif., with offices around the world.

Copyright © 2011 Fortinet, Inc. All rights reserved. The symbols ® and ™ denote respectively federally registered trademarks and unregistered trademarks of Fortinet, Inc., its subsidiaries and affiliates. Fortinet's trademarks include, but are not limited to, the following: Fortinet, FortiGate, FortiGuard, FortiManager, FortiMail, FortiClient, FortiCare, FortiAnalyzer, FortiReporter, FortiOS, FortiASIC, FortiWiFi, FortiSwitch, FortiVoIP, FortiBIOS, FortiLog, FortiResponse, FortiCarrier, FortiScan, FortiDB and FortiWeb. Other trademarks belong to their respective owners. Fortinet has not independently verified statements or certifications herein attributed to third parties and Fortinet does not independently endorse such statements. This news release may contain forward-looking statements that involve uncertainties and assumptions. If the uncertainties materialize or the assumptions prove incorrect, results may differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements and assumptions. All statements other than statements of historical fact are statements that could be deemed forward-looking statements, including but not limited to, any statements related to expected trends in cybercriminal activity. These trends are difficult to predict and any stated expectations regarding these trends may not ultimately be correct. Fortinet assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements, and does not intend to update these forward-looking statements.

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