200,000 threats...

FYI…

- http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,126327,00.asp
July 06, 2006
"Although widespread virus outbreaks may be a thing of the past, the total amount of malicious software being written is on the rise, according to McAfee. On Tuesday, McAfee vendor added the 200,000th definition to its threat database, and the security vendor expects the total number of identified threats to double in another two years… Between 1999 and 2002, McAfee's database held steady at around 50,000 definitions, but since then, the number of different worms and viruses being created has jumped… At the same time, the number of serious outbreaks has dropped dramatically. In 2004, McAfee counted 48 virus outbreaks of at least medium severity. In 2005, that number dropped to 12. This year there haven't been any. These trends reflect the growth and increasing professionalization of hacker culture that no longer seeks the fame that accompanies a worldwide virus outbreak. Instead of fame, hackers want money…"

EDIT/ADD:
- http://www.avertlabs.com/research/blog/?p=48
July 4, 2006
"…With this release version the number of threats detected will exceed 200,000 to reach 200,104 detections… In September 2004 with the DAT-4391 release we reached 100,000 threats detected. We have doubled this figure in less than 2 years !!!
Today our anti-virus not only detect viruses but all kinds of malware :
* Trojans : 31%
* Bots and Windows 32 viruses : 28%
* Scripts and macro viruses : 12%
* Potentially Unwanted Programs (PUPs) : 3%
* Old DOS, boot-sectors, windows 3 .1 and miscellaneous threats : 26% …"

FYI…

Malware Volume To Double By 2008
- http://www.techweb.com/wire/security/190300666
July 06, 2006
"…"It's remarkable that it took 18 years for our database to reach 100,000 malicious threats, and just under two years to double to 200,000," said Stuart McClure, senior vice president of research and threats, in a statement. "Hackers are releasing threats faster than ever before, with 200 percent more malicious threats per day than two years ago." McAfee added the 100,000th threat to its database in September 2004. At the current pace – 2006 should see more than 60,000 new threats, up from the 56,000 during 2005 – the 400,000 barrier should be broken in under two years, McAfee said."