{"id":80,"date":"2008-01-04T10:10:40","date_gmt":"2008-01-04T08:10:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.intego.com\/2008\/01\/04\/a-half-million-malware-variants\/"},"modified":"2008-01-04T10:10:40","modified_gmt":"2008-01-04T08:10:40","slug":"a-half-million-malware-variants","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.intego.com\/mac-security-blog\/a-half-million-malware-variants\/","title":{"rendered":"A Half-Million Malware Variants"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>It has taken more than twenty years, but <a href=\"http:\/\/www.securityfocus.com\/brief\/655?ref=rss\">researchers have announced that the number of malware variants detected<\/a> has now reached 500,000. Since 1986, and the first serious malware, one half-million variants have been found. A large number of these variants are, of course, simply minor tweaks to malware, designed to attempt to foil antivirus software. However, this shows the extent of the task that Intego&#8217;s Virus Monitoring Center deals with. The majority of this malware affects Windows, but the Mac share is high and increases regularly. 2007 saw several major Mac threats, and there is no sign that this risk is decreasing. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.intego.com\/virusbarrier\/\">Intego VirusBarrier<\/a> keeps you safe from Mac viruses, and if you use both Mac and Windows, such as via Boot Camp, VMware Fusion, or Parallels Desktop, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.intego.com\/virusbarrierDP\/\">Intego VirusBarrier Dual Protection<\/a> can keep you safe from malware on both operating systems.  <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It has taken more than twenty years, but researchers have announced that the number of malware variants detected has now reached 500,000. Since 1986, and the first serious malware, one half-million variants have been found. A large number of these variants are, of course, simply minor tweaks to malware, designed to attempt to foil antivirus [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-80","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-security-privacy"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t<!-- All in One SEO Pro 5.0.1.1 - aioseo.com -->\n\t<meta name=\"description\" content=\"It has taken more than twenty years, but researchers have announced that the number of malware variants detected has now reached 500,000. Since 1986, and the first serious malware, one half-million variants have been found. A large number of these variants are, of course, simply minor tweaks to malware, designed to attempt to foil antivirus\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"max-image-preview:large\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Peter James\"\/>\n\t<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.intego.com\/mac-security-blog\/a-half-million-malware-variants\/\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"generator\" content=\"All in One SEO Pro (AIOSEO) 5.0.1.1\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Mac Security Blog - Keep Macs safe from the dangers of the Internet\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A Half-Million Malware Variants\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"It has taken more than twenty years, but researchers have announced that the number of malware variants detected has now reached 500,000. Since 1986, and the first serious malware, one half-million variants have been found. A large number of these variants are, of course, simply minor tweaks to malware, designed to attempt to foil antivirus\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.intego.com\/mac-security-blog\/a-half-million-malware-variants\/\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2008-01-04T08:10:40+00:00\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2008-01-04T08:10:40+00:00\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/integogroup\/\" \/>\n\t\t<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n\t\t<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@IntegoSecurity\" \/>\n\t\t<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"A Half-Million Malware Variants\" \/>\n\t\t<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"It has taken more than twenty years, but researchers have announced that the number of malware variants detected has now reached 500,000. Since 1986, and the first serious malware, one half-million variants have been found. A large number of these variants are, of course, simply minor tweaks to malware, designed to attempt to foil antivirus\" \/>\n\t\t<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@IntegoSecurity\" \/>\n\t\t<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"aioseo-schema\">\n\t\t\t{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"BlogPosting\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.intego.com\\\/mac-security-blog\\\/a-half-million-malware-variants\\\/#blogposting\",\"name\":\"A Half-Million Malware Variants\",\"headline\":\"A Half-Million Malware Variants\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.intego.com\\\/mac-security-blog\\\/author\\\/peter\\\/#author\"},\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.intego.com\\\/mac-security-blog\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.intego.com\\\/mac-security-blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/logo2.png\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.intego.com\\\/mac-security-blog\\\/#articleImage\",\"width\":122,\"height\":46},\"datePublished\":\"2008-01-04T10:10:40-08:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2008-01-04T10:10:40-08:00\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.intego.com\\\/mac-security-blog\\\/a-half-million-malware-variants\\\/#webpage\"},\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.intego.com\\\/mac-security-blog\\\/a-half-million-malware-variants\\\/#webpage\"},\"articleSection\":\"Security &amp; Privacy\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.intego.com\\\/mac-security-blog\\\/a-half-million-malware-variants\\\/#breadcrumblist\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.intego.com\\\/mac-security-blog#listItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.intego.com\\\/mac-security-blog\",\"nextItem\":{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.intego.com\\\/mac-security-blog\\\/category\\\/security-privacy\\\/#listItem\",\"name\":\"Security &amp; Privacy\"}},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.intego.com\\\/mac-security-blog\\\/category\\\/security-privacy\\\/#listItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Security &amp; Privacy\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.intego.com\\\/mac-security-blog\\\/category\\\/security-privacy\\\/\",\"nextItem\":{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.intego.com\\\/mac-security-blog\\\/a-half-million-malware-variants\\\/#listItem\",\"name\":\"A Half-Million Malware Variants\"},\"previousItem\":{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.intego.com\\\/mac-security-blog#listItem\",\"name\":\"Home\"}},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.intego.com\\\/mac-security-blog\\\/a-half-million-malware-variants\\\/#listItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"A Half-Million Malware Variants\",\"previousItem\":{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.intego.com\\\/mac-security-blog\\\/category\\\/security-privacy\\\/#listItem\",\"name\":\"Security &amp; Privacy\"}}]},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.intego.com\\\/mac-security-blog\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"The Mac Security Blog\",\"description\":\"Keep Macs safe from the dangers of the Internet\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.intego.com\\\/mac-security-blog\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.intego.com\\\/mac-security-blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/logo2.png\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.intego.com\\\/mac-security-blog\\\/a-half-million-malware-variants\\\/#organizationLogo\",\"width\":122,\"height\":46},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.intego.com\\\/mac-security-blog\\\/a-half-million-malware-variants\\\/#organizationLogo\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/integogroup\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/IntegoSecurity\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.instagram.com\\\/intego_security\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youtube.com\\\/user\\\/IntegoVideo\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.linkedin.com\\\/company\\\/intego\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.intego.com\\\/mac-security-blog\\\/author\\\/peter\\\/#author\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.intego.com\\\/mac-security-blog\\\/author\\\/peter\\\/\",\"name\":\"Peter James\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.intego.com\\\/mac-security-blog\\\/a-half-million-malware-variants\\\/#authorImage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/02040a1b56c0554236733a69e59ffeacde3aff8b1d8fb9818a2b71ebbc0e2484?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"width\":96,\"height\":96,\"caption\":\"Peter James\"}},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.intego.com\\\/mac-security-blog\\\/a-half-million-malware-variants\\\/#webpage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.intego.com\\\/mac-security-blog\\\/a-half-million-malware-variants\\\/\",\"name\":\"A Half-Million Malware Variants\",\"description\":\"It has taken more than twenty years, but researchers have announced that the number of malware variants detected has now reached 500,000. Since 1986, and the first serious malware, one half-million variants have been found. A large number of these variants are, of course, simply minor tweaks to malware, designed to attempt to foil antivirus\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.intego.com\\\/mac-security-blog\\\/#website\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.intego.com\\\/mac-security-blog\\\/a-half-million-malware-variants\\\/#breadcrumblist\"},\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.intego.com\\\/mac-security-blog\\\/author\\\/peter\\\/#author\"},\"creator\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.intego.com\\\/mac-security-blog\\\/author\\\/peter\\\/#author\"},\"datePublished\":\"2008-01-04T10:10:40-08:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2008-01-04T10:10:40-08:00\"},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.intego.com\\\/mac-security-blog\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.intego.com\\\/mac-security-blog\\\/\",\"name\":\"The Mac Security Blog\",\"description\":\"Keep Macs safe from the dangers of the Internet\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.intego.com\\\/mac-security-blog\\\/#organization\"}}]}\n\t\t<\/script>\n\t\t<!-- All in One SEO Pro -->\r\n\t\t<title>A Half-Million Malware Variants<\/title>\n\n","aioseo_head_json":{"title":"A Half-Million Malware Variants","description":"It has taken more than twenty years, but researchers have announced that the number of malware variants detected has now reached 500,000. Since 1986, and the first serious malware, one half-million variants have been found. A large number of these variants are, of course, simply minor tweaks to malware, designed to attempt to foil antivirus","canonical_url":"https:\/\/www.intego.com\/mac-security-blog\/a-half-million-malware-variants\/","robots":"max-image-preview:large","keywords":"","webmasterTools":{"miscellaneous":""},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"BlogPosting","@id":"https:\/\/www.intego.com\/mac-security-blog\/a-half-million-malware-variants\/#blogposting","name":"A Half-Million Malware Variants","headline":"A Half-Million Malware Variants","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.intego.com\/mac-security-blog\/author\/peter\/#author"},"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.intego.com\/mac-security-blog\/#organization"},"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/www.intego.com\/mac-security-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/logo2.png","@id":"https:\/\/www.intego.com\/mac-security-blog\/#articleImage","width":122,"height":46},"datePublished":"2008-01-04T10:10:40-08:00","dateModified":"2008-01-04T10:10:40-08:00","inLanguage":"en-US","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.intego.com\/mac-security-blog\/a-half-million-malware-variants\/#webpage"},"isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.intego.com\/mac-security-blog\/a-half-million-malware-variants\/#webpage"},"articleSection":"Security &amp; Privacy"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.intego.com\/mac-security-blog\/a-half-million-malware-variants\/#breadcrumblist","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","@id":"https:\/\/www.intego.com\/mac-security-blog#listItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.intego.com\/mac-security-blog","nextItem":{"@type":"ListItem","@id":"https:\/\/www.intego.com\/mac-security-blog\/category\/security-privacy\/#listItem","name":"Security &amp; Privacy"}},{"@type":"ListItem","@id":"https:\/\/www.intego.com\/mac-security-blog\/category\/security-privacy\/#listItem","position":2,"name":"Security &amp; Privacy","item":"https:\/\/www.intego.com\/mac-security-blog\/category\/security-privacy\/","nextItem":{"@type":"ListItem","@id":"https:\/\/www.intego.com\/mac-security-blog\/a-half-million-malware-variants\/#listItem","name":"A Half-Million Malware Variants"},"previousItem":{"@type":"ListItem","@id":"https:\/\/www.intego.com\/mac-security-blog#listItem","name":"Home"}},{"@type":"ListItem","@id":"https:\/\/www.intego.com\/mac-security-blog\/a-half-million-malware-variants\/#listItem","position":3,"name":"A Half-Million Malware Variants","previousItem":{"@type":"ListItem","@id":"https:\/\/www.intego.com\/mac-security-blog\/category\/security-privacy\/#listItem","name":"Security &amp; Privacy"}}]},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.intego.com\/mac-security-blog\/#organization","name":"The Mac Security Blog","description":"Keep Macs safe from the dangers of the Internet","url":"https:\/\/www.intego.com\/mac-security-blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/www.intego.com\/mac-security-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/logo2.png","@id":"https:\/\/www.intego.com\/mac-security-blog\/a-half-million-malware-variants\/#organizationLogo","width":122,"height":46},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.intego.com\/mac-security-blog\/a-half-million-malware-variants\/#organizationLogo"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/integogroup\/","https:\/\/x.com\/IntegoSecurity","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/intego_security\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/IntegoVideo","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/intego"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.intego.com\/mac-security-blog\/author\/peter\/#author","url":"https:\/\/www.intego.com\/mac-security-blog\/author\/peter\/","name":"Peter James","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/www.intego.com\/mac-security-blog\/a-half-million-malware-variants\/#authorImage","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/02040a1b56c0554236733a69e59ffeacde3aff8b1d8fb9818a2b71ebbc0e2484?s=96&d=mm&r=g","width":96,"height":96,"caption":"Peter James"}},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.intego.com\/mac-security-blog\/a-half-million-malware-variants\/#webpage","url":"https:\/\/www.intego.com\/mac-security-blog\/a-half-million-malware-variants\/","name":"A Half-Million Malware Variants","description":"It has taken more than twenty years, but researchers have announced that the number of malware variants detected has now reached 500,000. Since 1986, and the first serious malware, one half-million variants have been found. A large number of these variants are, of course, simply minor tweaks to malware, designed to attempt to foil antivirus","inLanguage":"en-US","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.intego.com\/mac-security-blog\/#website"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.intego.com\/mac-security-blog\/a-half-million-malware-variants\/#breadcrumblist"},"author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.intego.com\/mac-security-blog\/author\/peter\/#author"},"creator":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.intego.com\/mac-security-blog\/author\/peter\/#author"},"datePublished":"2008-01-04T10:10:40-08:00","dateModified":"2008-01-04T10:10:40-08:00"},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.intego.com\/mac-security-blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.intego.com\/mac-security-blog\/","name":"The Mac Security Blog","description":"Keep Macs safe from the dangers of the Internet","inLanguage":"en-US","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.intego.com\/mac-security-blog\/#organization"}}]},"og:locale":"en_US","og:site_name":"The Mac Security Blog - Keep Macs safe from the dangers of the Internet","og:type":"article","og:title":"A Half-Million Malware Variants","og:description":"It has taken more than twenty years, but researchers have announced that the number of malware variants detected has now reached 500,000. Since 1986, and the first serious malware, one half-million variants have been found. A large number of these variants are, of course, simply minor tweaks to malware, designed to attempt to foil antivirus","og:url":"https:\/\/www.intego.com\/mac-security-blog\/a-half-million-malware-variants\/","article:published_time":"2008-01-04T08:10:40+00:00","article:modified_time":"2008-01-04T08:10:40+00:00","article:publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/integogroup\/","twitter:card":"summary_large_image","twitter:site":"@IntegoSecurity","twitter:title":"A Half-Million Malware Variants","twitter:description":"It has taken more than twenty years, but researchers have announced that the number of malware variants detected has now reached 500,000. Since 1986, and the first serious malware, one half-million variants have been found. A large number of these variants are, of course, simply minor tweaks to malware, designed to attempt to foil antivirus","twitter:creator":"@IntegoSecurity"},"aioseo_meta_data":{"post_id":"80","title":null,"description":null,"keywords":null,"keyphrases":null,"focus_keyword":null,"additional_keywords":null,"truseo_locale":null,"primary_term":null,"canonical_url":null,"og_title":null,"og_description":null,"og_object_type":"default","og_image_type":"default","og_image_custom_url":null,"og_image_custom_fields":null,"og_image_url":null,"og_image_width":null,"og_image_height":null,"og_video":null,"og_custom_url":null,"og_article_section":null,"og_article_tags":null,"twitter_use_og":false,"twitter_card":"default","twitter_image_type":"default","twitter_image_custom_url":null,"twitter_image_custom_fields":null,"twitter_image_url":null,"twitter_title":null,"twitter_description":null,"schema_type":"default","schema_type_options":null,"schema":{"blockGraphs":[],"customGraphs":[],"default":{"data":{"Article":[],"Course":[],"Dataset":[],"FAQPage":[],"Movie":[],"Person":[],"Product":[],"ProductReview":[],"Car":[],"Recipe":[],"Service":[],"SoftwareApplication":[],"WebPage":[]},"graphName":"","isEnabled":true},"graphs":[]},"pillar_content":false,"robots_default":true,"robots_noindex":false,"robots_noarchive":false,"robots_nosnippet":false,"robots_nofollow":false,"robots_noimageindex":false,"robots_noodp":false,"robots_notranslate":false,"robots_max_snippet":null,"robots_max_videopreview":null,"robots_max_imagepreview":"large","priority":null,"frequency":null,"local_seo":null,"limit_modified_date":false,"ai":null,"breadcrumb_settings":null,"seo_analyzer_scan_date":"2026-08-28 06:32:15","created":"2026-08-28 06:32:15","updated":"2026-09-04 09:23:00","reviewed_by":null},"aioseo_breadcrumb":"<div class=\"aioseo-breadcrumbs\"><span class=\"aioseo-breadcrumb\">\n\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.intego.com\/mac-security-blog\" title=\"Home\">Home<\/a>\n<\/span><span class=\"aioseo-breadcrumb-separator\">&raquo;<\/span><span class=\"aioseo-breadcrumb\">\n\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.intego.com\/mac-security-blog\/category\/security-privacy\/\" title=\"Security &amp; Privacy\">Security &amp; Privacy<\/a>\n<\/span><span class=\"aioseo-breadcrumb-separator\">&raquo;<\/span><span class=\"aioseo-breadcrumb\">\n\tA Half-Million Malware Variants\n<\/span><\/div>","aioseo_breadcrumb_json":[{"label":"Home","link":"https:\/\/www.intego.com\/mac-security-blog"},{"label":"Security &amp; Privacy","link":"https:\/\/www.intego.com\/mac-security-blog\/category\/security-privacy\/"},{"label":"A Half-Million Malware Variants","link":"https:\/\/www.intego.com\/mac-security-blog\/a-half-million-malware-variants\/"}],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intego.com\/mac-security-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intego.com\/mac-security-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intego.com\/mac-security-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intego.com\/mac-security-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intego.com\/mac-security-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=80"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.intego.com\/mac-security-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intego.com\/mac-security-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=80"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intego.com\/mac-security-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=80"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intego.com\/mac-security-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=80"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}