Report: Malware boom targets Web surfers

16.04.2009
Computer security firm Symantec Tuesday that claims the company identified more than two and a half times as many malicious code examples than in 2007 -- a jump from 624,000 to 1.6 million.

"Of all the malicious code signatures created by Symantec," the report says, "more than 60 percent of that total was created in 2008."

Malicious code development is now a professional career, the report observes. Instead of nosy teenage hackers, the code is crafted by programmers using advanced software toolkits to develop their malware. Symantec says 90 percent of detected threats last year were attempts to steal personal data such as credit card numbers and bank account information.