'Internet malware active for longer'
02/04/2008 10:06:24
Malware on infected websites is remaining active for longer, an internet security company has found.
According to the ScanSafe Global Threat Report malware on infected sites remained live for an average of 29 days during the second half of 2007, a 62 per cent increase from the 18 days in the first half of the year.
Web threats including viruses, Trojans and password stealers increased by 61 per cent during the same period.
In addition, 21 per cent of the threats blocked by Scansafe last year were zero-day malware - for which there is no existing anti-virus signature - leaving businesses to relying on signature updates vulnerable to security breaches.
"The numbers speak for themselves," said Mary Landesman, senior security researcher, at the company.
"This malware is remaining active on sites for weeks and in some cases months, leaving users exposed and representing a huge window of opportunity for cyber criminals."
More than 80 billion web requests scanned by Scansafe and 800 million web threats blocked by the company last year were studied for the report.
The most frequently blocked malware by the company were password-stealing Trojans targeting online gamers.
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