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INDUSTRY NEWS


7 May 2008

Storm botnet dissipates as malware grows


The Storm botnet fell to just five per cent of its original size in April, but web-based malware increased by a quarter during the month, it has been revealed.

According to the latest intelligence report from security software company MessageLabs, new malicious software removal tools that specifically target Storm infections have led to the sudden reduction in the number of infect machines, from as many as two million to just 100,000,

However, the report also identified a new growing threat, web-based malware, which was responsible for 36.1 per cent of all attacks during April, up 23.3 per cent since March.

Mark Sunner, chief security analyst at MessageLabs, said: "April was a month of unpredictability with the mighty Storm botnet losing all but five per cent of its anonymous army, and web-based malware reaching new levels.

"This month we find ourselves fighting the cyber-crime battle on many fronts, with the bad guys using an arsenal of weapons in order to detonate spam, viruses, phishing attacks and targeted Trojans. This makes it more important than ever to have a strong security shield in place."

According to MessageLabs, there were, on average, 1,214 new websites a day hosting malware and spyware, an increase of 619 compared with the previous month.

© 2006 Adfero Ltd.

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