The amount of new malware that appeared in 2007 increased tenfold with respect to the previous year

The number of new strains of malware that appeared in 2007 increased tenfold with respect to the previous year. Over the last year, PandaLabs, Panda Security’s laboratory for detecting and analyzing malware, has received an average of more than 3,000 new strains of malware every day. This represents a malware epidemic which although silent, with little media coverage and no widespread alerts, is nevertheless equally dangerous.

In terms of percentages, the number of new examples of malware that appeared in 2007 increased 800% with respect to 2006 which, in turn, witnessed an increase of 172% on the previous year.

This means that the rate with which the amount of malware in circulation is growing is increasing year after year. As regards protection, solutions solely based on continuously updated signature files are no longer sufficient to guarantee users’ security. This is evident from the results of a study carried out by PandaLabs which showed that 23% of home users were infected with malware, despite having a security solution installed and enabled on their computers.

The situation in corporate environments is similar. According to the PandaLabs study, almost 72% of networks with more than 100 workstations were infected with malware. In the light of this threat, Panda Security has responded with Collective Intelligence. This new security model allows the detection capacity of Panda products to be maximized, while reducing consumption of resources and bandwidth to a minimum on protected systems.

This is a security model based on the automation of all detection, scanning and protection processes. The system, developed by Panda, allows a multitude of samples to be gathered and analyzed completely automatically and therefore extremely rapidly to determine whether or not they are malware. Moreover, the knowledge extracted has knock-on benefits for the protection of other users, through automatic updating of signature files installed on their computers.

By complementing signature files with online solutions that have access to Panda’s knowledge-base –such as NanoScan and TotalScan for home users or Malware Radar for companies- Panda can provide a more efficient security environment which better meets the real needs of clients.

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Since 1990, its mission has been to analyze new threats as rapidly as possible to keep our clients safe. Several teams, each specialized in a specific type of malware (viruses, worms, Trojans, spyware, phishing, spam, etc), work 24/7 to provide global coverage. To achieve this, they also have the support of TruPrevent® Technologies, which act as a global early-warning system made up of strategically distributed sensors to neutralize new threats and send them to PandaLabs for in-depth analysis. According to Av.Test.org, PandaLabs is currently the fastest laboratory in the industry in providing complete updates to users. More information is available in the PandaLabs blog.