Security Statistics for the Second Quarter of 2006

Security company Panda Labs. has made public its analysis of the security threats for the second quarter of 2006. The findings confirm figures from similar reports and indicate that the threat represented by Trojan horses is gaining in momentum. According to Panda, out of the total amount of malware detected in sq 2006, no less than 54.4 percent is represented by Trojans. In this regard the increase in Trojan threats marks a global tendency to shift from generalized attacks to premeditated ones. Also online attacks have become specialized on confidential data theft and the metrics provided by Panda are a clear representation of this growing threat. In the same study, the security company has confirmed that the frequency of worms has decreased considerably, as of now representing only 5% of the malware detected.

"The Trojan is an extremely versatile malicious code, as it can carry out many damaging actions: steal confidential information, take remote control of affected computers, capture keystrokes, etc. What's more, it is usually installed very discreetly and carries out its actions without the user realizing, making it the ideal tool for cyber-criminals. Epidemics caused by mass-mailing worms or by those that exploit software vulnerabilities attract the attention of users, who quickly remove them from their systems. For this reason, they are not suitable for making money easily," explained Panda.

"Although large epidemics seem to have become a thing of the past, the current situation of the Internet as regards IT threats is worrying. The amount of new malware is gradually increasing, and most of it is related to cyber-crime. This situation causes users to relax, and in many cases, this means that computers are not correctly protected. However, now more than ever, malware authors are trying to drop their creations on computers without users realizing and therefore, it is not only essential to install a completely up-to-date traditional antivirus solution, but also to use it in combination with proactive technologies that can detect unknown malware," concluded Luis Corrons, Panda director.