|
Steep Rise in Virus Count and Two Major Worm Outbreaks
HELSINKI, Finland -- According to F-Secure in its second half study of viruses and worm outbreaks, the virus count continued to rise with alarming force, increasing from 110,000 to approximately 150, 000 by the end of the year – an unprecedented figure in virus history. At the same time, however the trend towards mass assaults using network worms dropped significantly with only two major outbreaks, one in September, with the Zotob worm causing larger disruptions internationally and the second, a worm called Sober. Y flooding email systems in late November. Earlier in 2005, the Zafi. D worm also made headlines.
According to F-Secure, 2005 was also a year characterized by a spate of criminal phishing attempts either directly to on-line banking customers yielding high profits to the malware authors or by exploiting man-made and natural disasters. It was also a year that saw the number of mobile malware exceed the 100 mark -- growing proof that the criminal bodies behind their creation are serious in their attempts to exploit this new arena.
Go Back
|
