300% increase in file sharing sites being created according to McAfee

After numerous attempts to shut the illegal file sharing and downloads website Pirate Bay, more and more file sharing and illegal download sites are starting up.  A huge increase in these types of sites has been reported in the third quarter of 2009 already.

Net security firm McAfee reports that a 300 per cent increase in file sharing sites that offer music and films has been accompanied by a sharp increase in associated malware-themed scams. Some of the newly created sites are littered with ruses designed to trick users into downloading various strains of malware.

A spokesperson from McAfee commented: “In the days prior to the shutdown anonymizers indexed and relayed the data to users who might be blocked. Open-source code was available to anyone who wanted to help with redistribution of the bit torrents. This was a true “cloud computing” effort, as the masses stepped up to make this database of torrents (legal, infringed, and malicious) available to others.”