Malware growth surpasses estimates

New malware variants are set to surpass 75 million by the end of the year, according to McAfee, writes V3.co.uk.

The company said in its quarterly threat report that the volume of new samples is surpassing its early estimates and forcing the company to raise its forecast.

Toralv Dirro, McAfee Labs EMEA security strategist, says the growth in new malware is largely due to the rise in crimeware toolkits.

Microsoft's Windows Phone platform is apparently growing in popularity among app developers, says Cnet.

The software giant's Windows Phone Marketplace now hosts over 40 000 apps and games from more than 10 000 different publishers, according to a study conducted by All About Windows Phone. About 33% of those apps were added in the past 90 days.

Of the submissions made during the past month, 85% were apps, while 15% were games. Some 68% of those were free downloads, 23% were paid, and 9% were paid after the initial free trial period.

The latest entry in Activision's Call of Duty video game franchise has launched an all-out assault on global sales records, as Modern Warfare 3 earned a reported $775 million during its first five days in stores, reports Red Orbit.

According to Hayley Tsukayama of the Washington Post, that breaks the previous record of $650 million.

That previous mark had been established by another game in the same franchise, Call of Duty: Black Ops.

Hollywood heartthrob George Clooney has been named as a lead contender for the role of Steve Jobs in the inevitable cash-in movie, planned to start filming next year, says The Register.

Clooney, who is recovering from back surgery from injuries sustained while filming Syriana, has been named by unnamed industry insiders as being in line for the role, as has former fellow ER co-star Noah Wyle.

Wyle does have the advantage of having played Steve Jobs before, in the 1999 cult classic “Pirates of Silicon Valley”.