By Bob Rankin
Malware developers have been working overtime, according to a recent McAfee Labs Threats Report. The security firm found over 8 million new species of malware in the first quarter of 2012, and the problem is by no means limited to desktop PC users. Mac OS X and smartphone users need to start paying attention to security threats, too.
Malware Increasing On All Platforms
The McAfee Threats Report: First Quarter 2012 indicates the number of malware threats is on the rise, after a lull in the last quarter of 2011. McAfee Labs uses a team of 350 researchers in 30 countries to monitor security threats, and their research shows that viruses, password stealing trojans, rootkits, botnets, spam attacks, and malicious web links are all growing in number. McAfee’s database of malware samples now numbers 83 million, and is projected to reach 100 million by year’s end.
And surprise… mobile and Mac malware is increasing faster than the PC and desktop varieties. “The same skills and techniques that were sharpened on the PC platform are increasingly being extended to other platforms, such as mobile and Mac; and as more homes and businesses use these platforms the attacks will spread, which is why all users, no matter their platforms, should take security and online safety precautions,” said Vincent Weafer, senior vice president of McAfee Labs.
Article continued here:
This excerpt is shared with permission from Bob Rankin.
