During the first quarter of 2013 alone, more than 6,5-million new malware samples were created, following the trend of increasingly prevalent malware statistics of previous years.
This is according to the PandaLabs Quarterly Report for Q1, which analysed the IT security events and incidents from January through March 2013.
Trojans continue to dominate the threat landscape, representing nearly three out of every four new malware samples in circulation, similar numbers to those of 2012.
Trojans set a new record, causing nearly 80% of all computer infections worldwide. Despite their inability to replicate, Trojans are capable of triggering massive infections through compromised Web sites that exploit vulnerabilities in browser plug-ins like Java and Adobe Reader.
This attack method allows hackers to infect thousands of computers in just a few minutes with the same Trojan or different ones, as attackers have the ability to change the Trojan they use based on multiple parameters such as the victim’s location, the operating system used.
“Trojans are the cyber-criminal’s weapon of choice, which is why they account for most new specimens in circulation and infections triggered in the first quarter of the year,” explains Jeremy Matthews, country manager at PandaLabs.
The average number of infected PCs across the globe stands at 31,13%. The countries leading the list of most infections are China (the only nation with more than 50% of computers infected), followed by Ecuador (41,01% of PCs infected) and Turkey (40,38%).
The top 10 list of malware-infected countries is completed with Argentina (37,77%), Peru (37,43%), Taiwan (36,48%), Russia (36,21%), Poland (33,79%), Spain (33,58%) and Brazil (33,45%). These are joined by another four countries with above-average infection rates: Chile (33,37%), Colombia (32,01%), Italy (31,97%) and Venezuela (31,45%).
This is according to the PandaLabs Quarterly Report for Q1, which analysed the IT security events and incidents from January through March 2013.
Trojans continue to dominate the threat landscape, representing nearly three out of every four new malware samples in circulation, similar numbers to those of 2012.
Trojans set a new record, causing nearly 80% of all computer infections worldwide. Despite their inability to replicate, Trojans are capable of triggering massive infections through compromised Web sites that exploit vulnerabilities in browser plug-ins like Java and Adobe Reader.
This attack method allows hackers to infect thousands of computers in just a few minutes with the same Trojan or different ones, as attackers have the ability to change the Trojan they use based on multiple parameters such as the victim’s location, the operating system used.
“Trojans are the cyber-criminal’s weapon of choice, which is why they account for most new specimens in circulation and infections triggered in the first quarter of the year,” explains Jeremy Matthews, country manager at PandaLabs.
The average number of infected PCs across the globe stands at 31,13%. The countries leading the list of most infections are China (the only nation with more than 50% of computers infected), followed by Ecuador (41,01% of PCs infected) and Turkey (40,38%).
The top 10 list of malware-infected countries is completed with Argentina (37,77%), Peru (37,43%), Taiwan (36,48%), Russia (36,21%), Poland (33,79%), Spain (33,58%) and Brazil (33,45%). These are joined by another four countries with above-average infection rates: Chile (33,37%), Colombia (32,01%), Italy (31,97%) and Venezuela (31,45%).