According to the Spain-headquartered IT security firm's Q1 2011 report, during the first three months of the year, its researchers identified an average of 73,000 new malware strains, most of which were trojans.
Trojans, says Panda, remain the most popular type of threat to computer systems, and now account for 70% of all new malware.
This is, however, unsurprising says the firm, considering it can be incredibly lucrative for cybercriminals to commit fraud or steal money from internet users through the online banking channel.
Luis Corrons, PandaLabs' technical director, said that the proliferation of online tools that enable non-technical people to create trojans in minutes and quickly set up illegal business – especially when it can provide access to banking details – is responsible for the growth in trojans.
Corrons' report notes that not all malware types have increased, with some, notably banking trojans and scareware, having decreased, whilst the numbers of bots has remained steady.
