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USB flash drives are increasingly carrying malware

Computer users have been warned that the cybercriminals behind the creation of many viruses are increasingly turning to USB flash drives to distribute their malicious code.

The drives have autorun capabilities and a large storage capacity, which are both ideal for the hosting and propagation of viruses.

According to Symantec's Internet Security Threat Report, 66 per cent of malware in Europe, the Middle East and Africa is distributed through dangerous executable files – an increase of 33 per cent when compared with 2008 figures.

The firm claims that the use of removable storage media to spread these kinds of files came to the fore in the summer of 2007 and has been growing ever since.

Symantec claimed that the proliferation of mp3 players has added to the threat to businesses posed by malware and viruses.

Meanwhile, new malware affecting users of the two most popular social networking sites, Facebook and MySpace, has been uncovered.

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