The number of PCs infected with ID theft malware increased 800%

The world leader in IT security, Panda Security, revealed the results of comprehensive identity theft study conducted by PandaLabs, malicious software analysis and detection laboratory. The research, based on the analysis of 67 million computers during 2008, unveiled that 1.1% of the Internet users worldwide have been actively exposed to identity theft malware. The results from Panda Security's online malware scanning service, ActiveScan, showed that over 3 million of the examined users in the U.S. and more than 10 million users worldwide were infected with active identity theft-based malware last year.

Below there are PandaLabs’ key findings regarding the evolution of online identity theft:

• 1.07% of all PCs scanned in 2008 were infected with active malware related to identity theft, such as banker Trojans

• 35% of the infected PCs had up-to-date antivirus software installed

• The number of PCs infected with identity theft malware increased by 800% from the first half to the second half of 2008

• Arizona, California and Florida continue to be the states with the highest per-capita incidence of reported identity theft

• PandaLabs predicts that the infection rate will increase by an additional 336% per month throughout 2009, based on the trend of the previous 14 months. 

The other recent research, published by an independent research firm, put the total estimated risk of ID theft from malware in the USA alone at approximately $1.5 billion. And as U.S. banks have raised consumer credit rates to compensate for losses in mortgage departments, unchecked losses from identity theft could have the effect of destructing a weak consumer confidence, particularly with respect to online transactions.