Majority of top malware threats are Trojans

Sunbelt Software, a web security company, recently released a list of the most harmful malware currently making its way through the web. Eight of the 10 programs listed were Trojan viruses, including the top four.

The Trojan.Win32.Generic!BT program is the most widespread strain at the moment as it is more than 33 percent of all malware on the web.

Sunbelt expects the threat to continue until the end of June. The most harmful trojans have taken advantage of hype over major sporting events such as the Super Bowl, the Olympics and the NCAA men's basketball tournament to spread from computer to computer.

"Although the newest threats are largely rogue security products, Trojans and bot-installing malware, the spectrum of malware threats out there continues to be quite broad. The old standards continue to circulate online and gain increased penetration whenever internet use peaks, as with events such as the recent Winter Olympics," said Sunbelt Software research center manager Tom Kelchner.

Symantec recently reported that spam was sent at its highest volume ever in February as botnet activity rose substantially from previous months.