Four new malware per second in 2016

2016 saw 115 million malware programs created, or about four per second, according to a recent report by AV-Test, an independent IT security institute.

Over 16 million malware programs were developed specially for Android, which remains the main target among mobile platforms.

Elsewhere, the trend is to use ‘Trojan horses’, a form of malware that is particularly lucrative for criminals.

It’s the quest for financial gain that explains the increasingly massive emergence of malware. “Cybercriminals are thinking like entrepreneurs,” believes AV-Test. “They have no other choice, because their sector is also affected by tough competition. Even though they may ignore all of the other laws, they have to abide by the rules of the marketplace if they want to succeed from a business point of view.”