One third of all Malware Were Made in 2010

Security firm, PandaLabs, stated in its year end review for 2010 that hackers created and circulated one-third of all viruses in 2010, making 34% of all malicious software that have ever been categorized by the firm.

Also, Panda Security's proprietary Collective Intelligence system, which involuntarily discovers, assesses and categorizes 99.4% of all malicious software obtained, presently stores 134 million different files from which 60 million include malicious software (viruses, Trojans worms, and other related PC threats).

The average number of threats made on a daily basis has increased from 55,000 to 63,000.

Further, banker Trojans topped the list of new malicious software that emerged in 2010 (56% of total samples). Banker Trojans were followed by viruses and worms respectively. Also, a debutant in the malware scenario, rogueware, which is a bogus anti-virus product consisted 11.6% of the total malware collected in the Collective Intelligence database, and has itself become a distinct group. Though it originated four years back, but has cause huge destruction among users.

2010 saw hackers exploiting social media, the placement of fake websites (BlackHat SEO techniques) and zero-day vulnerabilities as its important methods of infection. Spam is increasing at a faster rate in 2010, although the dismantling of some botnets (such as Mariposa or Bredolab) has stopped these zombie computers from being used to send spam, with a subsequent improvement in the situation.

In 2009, almost 95% of all email traffic globally proved to be spam, yet the figure reduced to the average of 85% in 2010.

Security experts also stated that though harmful software is created, its lifespan is shorter. 54% of examples work only for one day as against the lifespan of several months enjoyed by the threats of previous years. They now attack only few systems and then disappear. As anti-viruses able to find new malware, hackers change them or make new ones so as to evade detection.

Besides, 2010 was a year, when cyber-terrorism materialized as a critical concern for security firms across the globe. Recent Operation Aurora and Stuxnet worm attacks displayed the increasing sophistication of cyber attacks.

Thus, downloading authentic antivirus software is not going to fulfill the purpose alone, users must update it regularly to detect latest threats.

Related article: One Out of Four Data Breaches Involves Schools

» SPAMfighter News - 1/15/2011