Half of all malware attacks last just 24 hours
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Hackers who write malicious programs - malware - are creating about 37,000 new Trojans, viruses and other internet threats every day. But 52 percent of new malware is gone in a day, according to a report from web security firm Panda Security.
The game of cat and mouse with antivirus programs and security companies means malware writers have to create new malware to get around security patches and evade detection.
The firm's research arm, PandaLabs, said it has cataloged a total of 30 million individual malware samples through July 2009. Much of this total has become inactive and harmless as malware are replaced by new variants.
Just 24 hours after hackers put any strain of malware into circulation, they will modify its code so that it can continue to spread without being detected by security companies, PandLabs said.
This explains the significant increase in the number of new threats, from a total of 18 million in 2008 to 30 million by July 31.
"This is a never-ending race which, unfortunately, the hackers are still winning," said Luis Corrons, technical director of PandaLabs.
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