McAfee's Virus Report Card - Grim

It's been a busy six months for the virus-writing folk.

McAfee says the first half of this year has seen more serious viruses than in the whole of last year (sorry, no URL available yet). A large part of this has been the war between the Bagle and Netsky authors, a war that has seen their viruses appear in 215 countries.

What's perhaps surprising is that this bucks a trend in virus production, where McAfee saw a steady decline in the rate of viruses produced from 2000 to 2003, down to a 5% year over year growth. That seems to be all over, for now at least.

Another weak spot: McAfee noted in the first half of 2004 11 exploits targeting four Microsoft vulnerabilities against 15 exploits targeting seven Microsoft vulnerabilities in the whole of 2003. In other words: More folk making trying to make the most out of fewer holes.