FTC: Consumer Complaints about Malware, Spyware, Adware Climbed 279% in 2010
Consumer complaints about pesky malware, spyware and adware skyrocketed 279 percent from 2009 to 2010, according to a report released March 8 by the Federal Trade Commission.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) said complaints it received about malware, spyware and adware totaled 22,813 in 2010, up from 6,012 in 2009. Even more startling: The number of complaints to the FTC about what you might call “badware” soared 849 percent from 2008 to 2010.
Meanwhile, FTC complaints about social networking services jumped 7,467 percent from 2009 to 2010 – going from six to 454. That trend mirrors the rise in the popularity of social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter. The FTC registered no complaints about social networking in 2008.
Malware, spyware and adware are types of harmful software. Malware (short for malicious software) invades a computer system without the user’s permission. Spyware collects information about computer activity without a user’s knowledge. Adware automatically displays or downloads ads on a computer.
In a recent report, IT protection and data security company Sophos said it tracked 95,000 pieces of malware daily in 2010, almost double the number the company found in 2009. “It’s a clear sign that the malware threat continues to grow at an alarming rate,” Sophos said.
McAfee, which develops antivirus and Internet security software, said it detected an average of 60,000 new pieces of malware each day in 2010. “And many of these new threats were aimed at places where we want to let down our guard and connect with friends and family – on social networks,” McAfee said.
A December 2010 survey by Sophos found 40 percent of people questioned had been pestered by malware, up from 36 percent in December 2009 and 21 percent in April 2009. Sophos said that “the web is by far the biggest opportunity for malware infection.”
According to networking equipment provider Cisco Systems, web-delivered malware grew by 139 percent in 2010 compared with 2009. Internet security company Dasient reported that more than 1.1 million websites were infected with malware in the fourth quarter of 2010, almost double the number for the same period in 2009.
“Today, more than ever before, hackers aren’t just producing malware for notoriety – they’re producing it for large financial gain,” Sophos said.
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