Malware authors have been busy this year. 20 million new Malware strains have been created this year alone. According to Panda Security, new threats have been increasing at a rate of 100 percent or more since 2003. However, this year there was 50 percent of purely new malware that had been created. The threats are continuing to expand at rapid rates which means the more cautious you need to be as a computer user.
The average number of threats created each day has reached 63,000 to date. Panda also states that the average lifespan of 54 percent of malware has been cut to just 24 hours. Thirty-four percent of all active malware threats were created this year. Also, it "seems hackers are applying economies of scale, reusing old malicious code or prioritizing the distribution of existing threats over the creation of new ones."
Many of the new threats are noted as having keywords such as "Thanksgiving Lunch Invitations," "Thanksgiving Invitation Template" and "Thanksgiving Printable Invitations" attached to malicious websites.
Out of 50 search results for each of the three terms, roughly 20 directed users to infected URLs, the firm said. Waiting for the user is a fake anti-virus scan page that tells the person they need an immediate scan of their PC, followed by a prompt to download the malicious malware.
These Malware authors try to use holiday shopping keywords in order to spread the virus faster and on a broader scale.
As always, at CMIT we ask you to please be aware of these threats and malicious downloads that may pop up onto your screen while surfing the web.
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