Trojans Accounted for 55% Of New Threats in Q3 2010

PandaLabs (Panda Security anti-malware laboratory) has recently released its third quarter (2010) report on global virus activity. According to the report, this third quarter witnessed huge increase in Trojans as 55% of the all new threats created were under this category. Trojans also accounted for 54% of the total infections.

On comparison, it was found that the number slightly increased than the previous quarter (2010). In the previous quarter, Trojans had been responsible for 52% of new threats and 53% of total infections.

In contrast to Trojans that recorded balanced samples/infections ratio, viruses acquired the second position in terms of new malicious files (23%) and fourth in terms of infections (10.64%). Considering the fact that a single virus could compromise hundreds of files on the same computer, this is not unusual.

Adware accounted for the second-most common types of infections (13%), while worms (11%) captured the third position.

Further, it is found that infection through e-mail (conventionally the most popular tool to circulate malware) decreased in favor of social media.

PandaLabs have also discovered that malware is competent of spreading via clickjacking attacks that tap into Facebook's "Like" button and exploit news items and celebrity names to attract people. Another popular method for distributing malware are the black-hat SEO techniques that helps in creating fake Web pages appear in search results.

Among the nations with maximum number of Trojan attacks in the third quarter (2010), Taiwan topped the list, followed by Russia, Brazil, Argentina, Poland and Spain. Once again, the US stood at No. 8 on this list.

Brazil recorded a remarkable change when compared with the second quarter. The nation jumped three positions to 3rd from 6th place. As per the report, more than 40% of computers had at least one infection in Brazil. Besides, Chile, a new entry to the top 15 list, straightaway acquired the seventh position, with under 40% of systems infected, a bit higher than the United States.

As Argentina acquired the fourth rank, it can be concluded that there was an increase in malware activities in South America during the third quarter (2010).

Related article: Trojans to Target VoIP in 2006

» SPAMfighter News - 10/6/2010