Evolutionary Malware: Mobile Malware, Botnets, and Malware Toolkits

Much as information systems themselves evolve and incorporate innovation, so too has malicious software, or "malware." The increasing threat to those who use and trust in these systems is dangerous to overlook. This article examines recent trends in malware development. Reviewing statistics of dangerous infections of various malware families, it also expands on recent developments of actual exploit code. It further expands on the evolution of recent malware development techniques, particularly the use of malware development kits, or "exploit kits." Mobile exploits taking advantage of smart phones, as well as malicious "polymorphic" code that self-mutates to evade detection are also discussed in detail.