Threat Report Reveals Average Daily Malware Growth at an All Time High, More

SANTA CLARA, Calif., November 17, 2010 - McAfee, Inc. (NYSE:MFE) today unveiled its McAfee Threats Report: Third Quarter 2010, which uncovered that average daily malware growth has reached its highest levels, with an average of 60,000 new pieces of malware identified per day, almost quadrupling since 2007. At the same time, spam levels decreased in volume this quarter, both globally and in local geographies. Spam hit a two year low this quarter while malware continued to soar. McAfee identified more than 14 million unique pieces of malware in 2010, one million more than Q3 2009.

One of the most sophisticated pieces of malware that plagued users in Q3 was the Zeus botnet, the malware at the root of U.S. small businesses losing $70 million at the hands of Ukrainian cybercriminals. Most recently, cybercriminals unleashed a Zeus botnet that is aimed at mobile devices and designed to intercept SMS messages to validate transactions. As a result, the criminal can perform all bank transactions, stealing funds from unsuspecting victims. McAfee also saw an increase in email campaigns attempting to deliver the Zeus botnet, under the disguise of the following recognized organization names: eFAX, FedEx, Internal Revenue Service, Social Security Administration, United States Postal Service and Western Union.

More: http://newsroom.mcafee.com/article_display.cfm?article_id=3708