Symantec reports boom in viruses and worms
The number of malicious attacks has hit an all time high in 2003. Not only are viruses and worms increasing in number, but, thanks to the Internet, are propagating at an ever faster rate.
These are the gloomy findings of the latest Internet Security Threat Report from Symantec Corporation. However, this will not come as news to companies which, Symantec says are experiencing 38 attacks per company per week compared to 32 attacks per week in 2002, a 19 per cent increase.
The biggest trend, according to Symantec are those attacks which use known vulnerabilities and malicious code. In particular, attackers are using worm techniques which expose security breaches in computers and install Trojans to orchestrate attacks in the future. The prevalence of Microsoft software in both home and business users has made it the main target for attackers as it represents the biggest number of potential victims and offers the chance to install Trojans in far greater numbers. Symantec reports over 994 new viruses and worms aimed at Win32 systems in the first half of 2003, more than double the 2002 figure of 445.
