Spam volumes fall 13% while malware on the rise: Report

Spam volumes fell 13% during 2011, while web-based attacks increased by 36%, according to a new report from Symantec.

The Internet Security Threat Report Vol. 17 also reveals that 403 million new varieties of malware were created during 2011, representing a 41% increase over 2010.

The report cites the increasing sophistication of malware attacks, including “polymorph” malware toolkits that evolve to avoid anti-virus detection, as a key reason for the large number of new malware varieties.

The figures come following the revelation late last month that around 30,000 hacked websites running on WordPress, a popular content management system for SMEs, were used to spread Flashback malware to over 650,000 Apple Macintosh users.