At first glance 2005 looks like it was a quiet year for computer security because there were far fewer serious Windows virus outbreaks than in 2004.

According to figures gathered by security firm Symantec, there were 33 serious outbreaks in 2004. These are incidents measured by the number of people a virus infects or the severity of the damage they inflict.
In 2005, there were only six such incidents.

“We’re talking about a substantial decrease in worldwide pandemics,” said Kevin Hogan, senior manager in Symantec’s security response team.

This decline is taking place because virus makers have largely stopped spreading their malicious wares with mass-mailers that try to infect as many people as possible via their inbox.

Instead, virus creators are cranking out more versions of malicious programs than ever before.

Year-end statistics from Finnish anti-virus firm F-Secure show that there were 50% fewer virus outbreaks in 2005 but the number of malicious programs has grown by, on average, 40% for the last two years.
Similarly Sophos reported that it found 1,940 new malicious programs in November 2005, the largest increase since records began.

Evidence for this rash of variants can be found in the list of the top 20 viruses for 2005 compiled by Kaspersky labs in which the MyTob virus fills nine places.

Security experts say this explosion in variants is partly driven by a desire to overwhelm anti-virus firms. With defences spread thinly, hackers believe they will have more time for their particular creation to infect machines.

The malicious hackers are also keen to replenish the ranks of the viruses circulating online as fixes are found for previous versions.

more from [url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4521844.stm]BBC[/url]

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Filed under: Security - @ December 29, 2005 4:11 am