Symantec has released its annual Internet Security Threat Report and has revealed that it registered over 1.6 million new malicious code signatures last year.
These new codes constitute over 60 per cent of signatures ever recorded by the security vendor.
On average, Symantec detected 245 million active malicious codes per month and recorded that a growing amount of malware targets web applications and user data.
Another finding in the report is the growing use of automated programs – or bots – which has seen an increase of 47 per cent in the last year. Spain has the highest rate of infection in the EMEA region, with Russia being the prime source for the infections.
“Symantec’s latest ISTR underscores the size of the problem we are now dealing with,” said Symantec’s chief scientist Guy Bunker. “The fact that 60 per cent of the malicious code signatures ever created by Symantec were undertaken in 2008 highlights the seriousness of this rising threat and the need for us all to be better-educated about how to protect ourselves, both at home and at work.”
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