By Emmanuel Okwuke / Senior IT. Correspondent
A new study has shown that 160,000 new malware samples were generated in the second quarter of this year, bringing the number to 15 million, with trojans once again accounting for the majority.
However, Potentially Unwanted Programs (PUPs) showed a major growth spurt, according to a report by Infosecurity Magazine.
PandaLabs, a Spanish security vendor’s research arm revealed the figures in its Quarterly Report for Q2, claiming that over those three months, a whopping 160,000 new samples were created every day.
Some 58.2 per cent of newly created threats were trojans, a drop from Q1 but only because of the rise in PUPs (24.77 per cent), it said.
The report explained: “This increase in the number of PUPs is not by chance. Over recent months we have witnessed a significant increase in the creation of software bundlers, programs that install PUPs on computers along with the programs that the user actually wants to install – without asking for the user’s consent. Although these bundlers have been around for some time, new companies have sprung up who exploit these programs and profit from installing unwanted software without properly informing the user.”
When it comes to regional statistics, China (51 per cent) once again had the highest infection rate of any country.
Aside from Japan, which had an infection rate of 24.2 per cent, the ten countries least affected by malware were European countries.
The UK came halfway down that list with 25 per cent – well below the global average of 37 per cent.
PandaLabs also noted an increase in attacks on iOS users during the quarter, specifically calling out a new piece of Chinese malware targeting unlocked iPhones and designed to steal user credentials.
Another high profile attack targeting Apple users in May demanded a ransom payment after locking their devices via ‘Find my iPhone’ technology.
Source : Independent