The Internet did not melt down because of a large-scale worm outbreak in 2003. No multi-operating system worm wreaked havoc. New technologies like wireless and instant messaging weren’t targeted by malicious code to any significant degree. Worms and viruses didn’t take any significant technological leaps in 2003, but that didn’t mean it was a quiet year for malicious code. “Regular e-mail worms were the most popular [for worm writers] in 2003 and will probably continue next year,” said Joe Hartmann, director of North American antivirus research at Trend Micro Inc. “They are working, so why fix them?” One disturbing new trend was introduced this year: More worm writers were motivated by profit, and that’s likely to continue next year. Full Story