PandaLabs Q2 Report: Trojans Remain Most Pervasive Threat, Classic Viruses Surge by 67 Percent Over Previous Quarter

ORLANDO, Fla., July 1 /PRNewswire/ -- PandaLabs, Panda Security's antimalware laboratory, has published its Quarterly Report on IT Threats, analyzing the IT security events and incidents from April to June 2010.

Trojans once again topped the rankings, accounting for nearly 52 percent of malware identified by PandaLabs during the quarter. Traditional viruses have continued their revival since the onset of 2010, now accounting for nearly 25 percent of all malware compared to 15 percent in Q1. The jump is due in large part to a small handful of hybrid viruses that are replicating themselves at extremely high rates, blurring the lines between traditional viruses and other types of malware. To see a photo representation of the malware landscape in Q2, visit http://www.flickr.com/photos/panda_security/4745531591/

"The increase of viruses can be attributed to the hybridization of threats today," said Sean-Paul Correll, threat researcher at PandaLabs. "Today's threats are blending traditional virus capabilities, with Trojan, and sometimes worm-like features. We're moving from the world of 'virus' and 'Trojan' to the all encompassing term of 'malware.'"

Taiwan once again remains in the No. 1 position for infection rankings by country, with more than 50 percent of all computers infected, followed by Russia and Turkey. A photo of country infection rankings is available at http://www.flickr.com/photos/panda_security/4746170246/

Additional findings disclosed in the report include a new and potentially dangerous phishing technique called Tabnabbing that appeared in May. Tabnabbing exploits the tab browsing system in modern browsers to make users believe they are on a familiar Web page such as Gmail, Hotmail, Facebook and then steals their passwords. Tabnabbing uses a JavaScript command that detects when users are not viewing a page they have previously opened, and automatically rewrites the content of the page, as well as the icon and title, spoofing the appearance of the original page. While the extent of Tabnabbing is still unclear, PandaLabs advises users to close all pages that they are not actively using to avoid this threat.

Additional threats outlined in the report include BlackHat SEO and continued attacks on social networks, including the recent Clickjacking scheme on Facebook, which exploits the "Like" button.

To read more about the numerous vulnerabilities discovered over the last three months, download the free full report at www.pandalabs.com or directly at http://www.pandasecurity.com/img/enc/Quarterly_Report_PandaLabs_Q2_2010.pdf.

About PandaLabs

Since 1990, its mission has been to detect and eliminate new threats as rapidly as possible to offer our clients maximum security. To do so, PandaLabs has an innovative automated system that analyzes and classifies thousands of new samples a day and returns automatic verdicts (malware or goodware). This system is the basis of collective intelligence, Panda Security's new security model which can even detect malware that has evaded other security solutions.

Currently, 99.4 percent of malware detected by PandaLabs is analyzed through this system of collective intelligence. This is complemented through the work of several teams, each specialized in a specific type of malware (viruses, worms, Trojans, spyware, phishing, spam, etc), who work 24/7 to provide global coverage. This translates into more secure, simpler and more resource-friendly solutions for clients.

More information is available in the PandaLabs blog: http://www.pandalabs.com

SOURCE Panda Security