How Malware Has Evolved Over the Years [Infographic]

Brain, the first piece of malware in computing history, was crafted by two Pakistani brothers in 1986. Mikko Hypponen, chief research officer at F-Secure, tracked the brothers down last year, and while they claimed that the virus was created with innocent intentions, the larger malware market hasn’t been so mild-mannered.

TrendMicro followed the evolution of malware from viruses to worms all the way to the current hacktivist era.

Here are a few highlights from their infographic:

• There were 30 major outbreaks resulting in more than 37,000,000 infected files in 2004.
• A person’s credit card information is worth between $7 and $25 on the underground market.
• 92 percent of digital threats arrived through the Internet in 2008.
• There are almost 12,600 new malware threats per hour.
• Three fake antivirus providers raked in $130 million during their malware campaign.

For more information on malware, check out the Trend Micro infographic.