A unique malware file is created every half-second

Sophos has released its Mid-Year 2011 Security Threat Report, which reveals that since the beginning of 2011, the company has identified an average of 150,000 malware samples every day.

This equates to a unique malware file being created every half-second, a 60 percent increase since 2010. In addition, around 19,000 malicious website addresses (URLs) are now identified daily, with 80 percent of those URLs being pages on legitimate websites that have been hacked or compromised.

High-profile hacking attacks against governments and corporations have dominated the security landscape in 2011. The result is that other security issues which could pose a greater threat to businesses, governments and consumers have received less attention.