Malware Continues to Explode Around the World

Malicious code aimed at stealing personal information has grown at a record pace, Symantec said in its latest security report.

"The report noted that Web surfing remained the primary source of new infections in 2008, and that attackers are relying more and more on customized malicious code toolkits to develop and distribute their threats," Symantec said in a press statement. "Furthermore, 90 percent of all threats detected by Symantec during the study period attempt to steal confidential information. Threats with a keystroke-logging capability -- which can be used to steal information such as online bank account credentials -- made up 76 percent of threats to confidential information, up from 72 percent in 2007."

As the number of cyber threats continues to grow, spammers are becoming more skilled at creating ways to steal personal information. The majority of web-based attacks are aimed at legitimate web sites that spammers have hijacked, which is then used to distribute malicious content to each visitor of the site.