<A target="_blank" href="http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2009/05/botnets-took-control-of-12-million-new-ips-this-year/">According to McAfee,</A> this year has seen a 50-percent rise in PCs controlled by botnets. While most of these machines are used to send spam, financial data and other information is being stolen from others.