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Computer Viruses Hit 1 Million Mark In 2007

by Will Safer on April 10, 2008 at 02:35 PM



2007 was a record-breaking year for the development of malicious software, such as viruses and Trojan horses (a virus disguised as a regular computer program), according to internet security firm Symantec.

According to a report by the BBC News, Symantec reported that the number of malicious programs has passed the 1 million mark for the first time, although nearly half of these programs were actually developed and unleashed during the last calendar year. Most of these programs are variations on those which were previously developed and proved successful in infiltrating computers and network systems.

Many of the attacks that occur on computer systems consist of more than one element of so-called "malware." First, a trojan application, which, like the Trojan Horse from mythology, gains access disguised as something that appears safe. Then, once the computer security is compromised another malware application is employed to steal data, or to direct the computer to further spread the malware to other systems.

From BBC News.


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Tags: breaking news, BreakingNews, crime, malware, security, Symantec, viruses

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