Malware Created Every Year has Increased 25,000 Percent Since 2000

The amount of new malware created every year has increased 25,818 percent over the last seven years, according to a report by PandaLabs. "This data underlines the fact that more malware is being circulated now than at any other time, and this trend is continuing," explains Luis Corrons, technical director of PandaLabs.

The type of malware most frequently used by cyber-crooks has also changed over the years. Whereas in 2000, viruses accounted for 81 percent of all new malware detected by PandaLabs, in 2006 this figure barely reached 1 percent. The flipside of this however is that Trojans have increased from 14 to 53 percent over the same period.

"This change in the type of malware being used is driven by the new goals of malware creators. Viruses were closely related to massive epidemics and the quest for notoriety, while Trojans are the weapon of choice for those looking to profit silently from infecting computers," says Corrons.

Worms also enjoyed a boom, notably between 2002 and 2005. "During this period, worms -- particularly e-mail worms -- were widely used to cause massive epidemics," explains Corrons.

The year 2002 was also when the first examples of spyware began to appear. The increasing prevalence of this threat is also related to the new malware dynamic. This type of code is used to steal data from users which is then sold to third-parties or used directly for profit.