A fresh round of targeted e-mail attacks is underway, arriving in messages that personally address both the recipient and his or her employer. One pretends to be sent from the IRS requesting more information about company tax filings. Another set of targeted e-mails purport to be sent from Microsoft, urging recipients to download and install a new security update. Both try to trick the user into installing software that steals personal and financial data from the victim's PC.

Posted by Annette King at 09:04

{The} Dr. Evil-like number not, however, cause for utter panic

The total number of viruses will reach one million by year's end, according to security experts.

Malware writers have been forced to create new types of viruses and exploits more regularly as businesses and individuals improve security practices, the experts said.

Sophos chief technology officer Paul Ducklin said about 25 percent of unique malware has been created in the last six months of its 20-year history.

"About 85 to 90 percent of malware families have a fix created for them almost immediately," Ducklin said.

"Malware writers aren't getting the same bang for buck as they used to because businesses and consumers have become much more diligent with security over the last five years.

Posted by Annette King in Adware, Spyware and Trojans at 08:49