Identity Theft News

PCs infected by identity theft malware up 600 percent

Friday, August 21, 2009

The number of computers infected by malware designed to steal personal or banking information for identity theft and fraud has shot up 600 percent in the past year, according to a report from web security firm Panda Security.

Panda's security research division, PandaLabs, has captured samples of 11 million new malware threats so far this year, approximately 8 million of which are Trojans - a type of malware that is disguised as a non-threatening file.

Trojan malware can be used to track keystrokes to steal login information and passwords for banking websites or can come in the form of fake banking or other websites for phishing user information.

"One of the possible reasons for this increase is the economic crisis. This in conjunction with organizations that have made a business out of selling personal information on the black market, such as credit card numbers, PayPal or eBay accounts is what we can attribute the rise to," said Luis Corrons, technical director of PandaLabs.

PandaLabs estimates that approximately 3 percent of all users have fallen victim to identity theft through online attacks.
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