In the last two decades, malware has evolved from a simple, contained software virus to an unstoppable plague that can spread to millions of smartphone users in one foul click. Last year, Trend Micro’s analysts found that consumers were being targeted by up to 100,000 threats?a number that has tripled to 300,000 threats this year.
Yes, it all sounds rather melodramatic, but there’s plenty of evidence to show these changes. Trend Micro created the infographic below to document how digital threats have become more sophisticated over the years.
It starts with the first self-propagating computer virus, 1986′s Brain, an MS-DOS virus that was transferred by floppy disk. In the late 80s and early 90s, as people flocked to the Internet, we saw viruses evolve into worms, which can spread infections without ever launching a program. Trojans, an infection concealed in a seemingly innocent product, took shape soon after. For more on how to distinguish malware, see PCMag guide “Viruses, Spyware, and Malware: What’s the Difference?”
And now that most of us can’t imagine life without the Internet, guess where criminals have set up shop? Web threats grew 2,135 percent between 2005-2008, Trend Micro notes, often through spam, cloud storage, and social networks. In 2011 especially we heard about massive company or governmental data breaches almost every week; so far this year, we’ve seen costly database breaches into the likes of Sony, NBC, the FBI, the Texas police officials. Trend Micro notes a cybercriminal by the name of “Soldier,” who has already stolen around $3.2 million this year from individuals and federal agencies. It’s apparent that cybercriminls are hitting bigger targets and wreaking greater damage.
Cybercriminals are smart and savvy. Make sure your technology is secured with antivirus software that can detect most malware.
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Article source: http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2393215,00.asp?kc=PCRSS03069TX1K0001121
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