Virus Numbers Growth Down in 2001

© West Coast Publishing

Thursday, 24th January 2002 - According to mi2g software the number of new virus species seen in 2001 was 245 - down from the 413 recorded in 2000.

At the same time, though, the IT security consultancy reports that global software vulnerabilities reported by CERT have increased by 124 percent from 1,090 in 2000 to 2,437 in 2001. The London-based company says that as virus writers, disgruntled employees and hacktivists exploited new software vulnerabilities so corporations were having to patch up their systems.

Where mi2g has been able to trace and compare the origins of the various virus species, it has found that Europe has led the world in the development of 57 percent of them, with 21 percent of them having been originated in eastern Europe, which includes Russia. North America, meanwhile, only accounted for 17 percent, followed by the Far East with 13 percent.