As the infrastructures that comprise the backbone of critical services, business and government operations become more dependent on technology, the need for greater coordination and security of our critical infrastructure increases. Last week, President Barack Obama issued a proclamation declaring December, 2009 to be “Critical Infrastructure Protection Month.” The Presidential proclamation underscores the vital importance of the ongoing work and achievements of the private sector and the government in protecting and ensuring the resilience of our Nation’s critical infrastructure and key resources. At Symantec, we know that the nation’s critical infrastructures are top-tier targets for groups wishing to cause visible harm in order to negatively affect continuity of services, create civil unrest, damage our economic viability, and illegally capture information for profit. And the threat is growing. A significant spike in new malicious code threats occurred during 2008. Symantec created 1,656,227 new malicious code signatures during this time period. This is a 265 percent increase over 2007, when 624,267 new malicious code signatures were added. This means that of all the malicious code signatures created by Symantec, more than 60 percent of that total was created in 2008. The explosive growth can be attributed to the professionalism of malicious code development, supporting the demand for goods and services that facilitate online fraud and data exfiltration. Frankly, evidence suggests 2009 will produce an even greater volume and sophistication of malicious code attacks. As this issue gains more visibility as core to national security, Symantec continues to work with government and private sector organizations to protect our critical infrastructures and make them more resilient.