Web security firm Sophos has published research regarding cybercrime in the first half of 2008 - and it's a interesting read. According to the Sophos Security Threat Report, website infection rate is three times faster than 2007.

It is estimated that the total number of unique malware samples in existence now exceeds 11 million, with Sophos currently receiving approximately 20,000 new samples of suspicious software every single day - one every four seconds

And what is the number one host for malware on the Web? Blogger. Hackers both set up malicious blogs on the service, and inject dangerous web links and content into innocent blogs in the form of comments. Blogspot.com accounts for 2 percent of all of the world's malware hosted on the web.

Sophos experts note that with the continuing popularity of Web 2.0 social networking sites, including Facebook and LinkedIn, among business users, cybercriminals who have already gained access to user profiles, may begin to use these as corporate directories, noting new employees and launching spear-phishing attacks specifically aimed at stealing information from new and unsuspecting members of staff.