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According to reports by German software security company G Data, since the beginning of summer, the malware community appears to have been scaling back its activities. This considerable reduction is, according to the estimates of G Data security expert Ralf Benzmüller, not solely due to the forthcoming holiday season. The global recession appears to have also hit the eCrime economy.

"This phenomenon emerges every year as something new. At the start of the holiday season, the number of malware programs falls. One reason for this is the worldwide onset of the travel season, which, based on experience, causes a drop in the number of active Internet users. However, this does not explain a collapse of more than 30 percent," says Ralf Benzmüller. According to expert opinion, it seems much more likely that the global economic crisis has also hit the eCrime industry. "The black economy operates according to demanding economic criteria: supply and demand define business. The global economic crisis has not left the eCrime economy untouched. “Following on from dumping prices for the sending of spam, the downturn has now reached the writers of malware code. Order books for this particular branch of the industry seem currently to be falling back. Therefore we expect a stagnation in new malware figures for the current month. However there will definitely still be individual peaks. The latest global events and catastrophes constantly provide the online criminals with new ways of targeting their victims."

Related topics: Cybercrime, Malware, Security