PC infection

Data from a Czech security firm showed that a big slice of infected PCs fall upon machines on Windows XP.

Last week Avast Software released its report that reveals that Windows XP machines are disproportionally infected with rootkits.

Having a 58% share of all Windows systems used XP accounts for 74% of the rootkit infected PCs, says Avast.

In comparison, Windows 7 machines make up only 12% of infected PCs.

A Windows Trojan has been adapted to infect Mac OS machines, according to the latest report by a security firm Sophos. The malware is being under development to set a backdoor on Macs with hackers behind the scheme seeking for potential buyers.

The author called the malware BlackHole RAT while security experts dubbed it as MusMinim. It is a version of Windows Trojan called darkComet. Net security firm Sophos describes the malware as "very basic", while even its author characterizes the malware as a work in progress.

A new quarterly report by PandaLabs reveals that in the second quarter of 2010 52% of malware fell on Trojan viruses. The research shows that since the beginning of the year traditional viruses are returning accounting for about 25% of all malware as compared with 15% reported in the first quarter. PandaLabs believes this is because some viruses are being replaced with updated hybrid versions.

"The increase of viruses can be attributed to the hybridization of threats today," said Sean-Paul Correll, threat researcher at PandaLabs.

It was found that there is a dedicated network that keeps most notorious botnets always-on connections and virtually immune from takedowns. Researchers at RSA have identified the network of the servers that shepherd tens of thousands of infected PCs so they continue to send spam, spread malware, and stay updated with the latest bot software.