Fergie's Tech Blog

Soaring malware levels hint at criminal activity

Alice Lander and Graeme Wearden write in C|Net News:

Security company Sophos has seen a dramatic rise in the number of viruses, worms and Trojan horses this year as more organized criminals turn to cybercrime.

The company reported last week that it had detected 7,944 new pieces of such malware in the first six months of this year--almost 60 percent more than the same time last year.

The biggest growth was in Trojan horses, programs that can damage a user's files, steal information, or even create a backdoor that can be used to compromise a PC.

"There's been a shift towards Trojans to make money," said Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant at Sophos.

posted by Fergie @ 7/05/2005 09:02:00 AM