The evolution of spyware is outpacing that of viruses, with some software resetting itself hourly to evade detection, security experts warned today at Infosec Europe. Security firm Webroot recorded a dramatic rise in spyware in the past 12 months, almost all of it aimed at harvesting financial data that could be used by third parties. “Voice is definitely the next attack vector. But this time the malware writers won’t use it for financial gain but for stealing intellectual property, ” said Gerhard Eschelbeck, chief technology officer at Webroot and founder of vulnerability testing firm Qualys. Eschelbeck added that his company had seen a 40 per cent rise in the amount of spyware in circulation over the past three months.