Roughly a third of all malware is new, with around 20 million viruses created this year.

According to Panda Security's PandaLabs, the first 10 months of 2010 saw more viruses written than the whole of 2009.

V3.co.uk reports that roughly a third of all malware is new, with around 20 million viruses created this year. However, these new pieces of malware may be the work of amateurs, says Panda, since many have short life spans. The company says more than half of the attacks disappear in the first 24 hours.

Google also reports more viruses compared to a year ago. Google's Postini reported that August set a record for the number of viruses blocked in a single day: 188 million.