Microsoft: Web attacks on the rise

Robert McMillan over at ComputerWorld reports that Microsoft has found a significant increase in web-based attacks in the past year:

Criminals changed tactics in the last six months of 2007, dropping malicious e-mail in favor of Web-based attacks, according to data reported to Microsoft Corp. by Windows users.

The company saw the number of Trojan horse downloader programs it removed from Windows machines jump by 300%, according to Jimmy Kuo, principal architect with Microsoft’s Malware Protection Center. These programs masquerade as legitimate pieces of software, but once installed they then download malicious software such as spyware or adware onto the victim’s computer. They are typically installed via the Web.

See the ComputerWorld story or the original report for more interesting stats.