Viruses programmed to steal data proliferate

Online security company Symantec says incidents of viruses attacking computers to commit cyber-crime is on the rise.

While in the past most attacks were designed to destroy data, the current trend is for web-borne viruses to silently steal data without doing any noticeable damage that would alert a user to their presence, the company said.

Symantec last week released the results of its latest Internet Security Report - covering the period from July 1, 2005 to December 31, 2005.

The report detailed the growing trend for attackers to use "bot networks". These programmes - which provide attackers with unauthorised control of a computer - also contributed to the threat of cyber crime.

The number of malicious code threats (or viruses) that could reveal confidential information rose from 74 per cent to 80 per cent of the top 50 viruses sampled.

Attackers were focussing on regional targets, desktops and web applications that would allow them to steal corporate, personal, financial or other confidential information.