Threat Center

Real-Time Malware Information and Resources

Threats are evolving by the second. It's no longer just about viruses. Spyware, trojans, worms, rootkits, bots and phishing attacks are all on the rise. Malware writers are constantly reworking their code to evade security defenses. The ESET Threat Center features resources to understand the nature of these evolving threats, their impact on your business, and why proactive protection is so important.

  • In December of 2008, the APWG recorded 31,173 sites that were linked to Phishing and password-stealing Malware. This is a jump of over 800 percent when compared to the figures from January 2008 (Anti-Phishing Working Group)
  • More than 5 million U.S. consumers lost money to Phishing attacks in the 12 months ending in September 2008, a 39.8% increase from a year earlier (Gartner)
  • In the US alone, the number of known breaches of government computers with malware more than doubled between 2006 and 2008 (Department of Homeland Security)
  • 7.5 percent of US adults lost money as a result of financial fraud last year, mostly due to data breaches (Gartner)

Beta Testing

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The Malware Challenge

Growth in malware presents serious challenges for the anti-malware industry. There are about a million new malware samples presented a month. The graph below shows the number of new samples added to AV-Test.org's malware collection over the last 3 years.

AV-Test.org New Unique Samples

With more than a million new samples being seen every month, we are now reaching 30 million unique samples. That clearly illustrates the scale of the malware threat. The graph below shows the growth in the total size of AV-Test.org's collection.

AV-Test.org Total Unique Samples

Other Organizations

  • AMTSO, the Anti-Malware Testing Standards Organization: www.amtso.org
  • AVAR, the Association of Anti Virus Asia Researchers: www.aavar.org
  • AVIEN (Anti-Virus Information Exchange Network) includes the former AVIEWS (Anti-Virus Information & Early Warning System): www.avien.net
  • EICAR, The European Institute of Computer Anti-Virus Research: www.eicar.org
  • SANS Internet Storm Center: isc.sans.org
  • Virus Bulletin, the premier independent antivirus testing authority: www.virusbtn.com