It’s no cause for celebration, but the number of malicious viruses, worms and trojans has officially exceeded the one million mark, according to a bi-annual Internet Security Threat Report from Symantec.
Additionally, and perhaps most importantly, Symantec noted that “almost two thirds of all malicious code threats currently detected were created during 2007.”
Symantec reported finding more than 711,912 total threats in 2007, 499,811 of which were found in the second half of the year alone. Most of these viruses targeted machines with Microsoft Windows.
Many of the viruses were noted to be modified versions of previous malicious programs such as key loggers that record information such as usernames and passwords when users visit certain Web sites.
The report notes that many of the digital criminals have adapted to use highly refined methods that cause them to continually search for vulnerable users.
Hi-tech crime mobs actually employ several programmers in hopes of finding an effective program
Said the report: “The combination of these factors results in a high volume of new malicious code samples that threaten users online.”
—
On the Net:
Comments