Speaking at a Council of Europe conference, Microsoft official Tim Cranton said the number of virus-infected computers in the world has been rising, reaching 63,000 a day in the second half of last year (11% increase over last year). Cranton, a senior attorney at Microsoft and director of its Internet safety enforcement programmes, said that bots were being used to trigger replicating virus attacks on computer networks. "The threat of zombies or bots has become more prevalent since 2005, primarily because cybercriminals are able to hide behind their anonymity. Combatting these threats will take a multi-faceted approach -- legally, technically and by educating consumers. But we can"t do it alone. The industry is partnering together with governments and law enforcement in the fight against cybercrime," Cranton said.
Christian Aghroum, who spearheads efforts against technology-related crimes at the French interior ministry in Paris, noted that unwanted email can transmit hard-to-detect Trojan viruses, often as picture attachments. Aghroum also called into question the honesty of some online auction houses. He proposed the establishment of a European school of technology that would be linked to data security. The Council of Europe"s convention on cybercrime is the only such binding treaty in the world today, serving as a guideline for nations that want to develop their own similar laws. Forty-three nations have signed the convention and 19 have ratified it.