Malware Data Banks Towering Above the Rest

Malware research group vx-underground has an archive of 30 terabytes of malware source code, while VirusTotal has 31 petabytes of malware samples contributed by users.

• A petabyte is approximately 1,000 times larger than a terabyte.

These enormous datasets are crucial for training detection models and understanding how attacks evolve.

The Size of These Data Banks

Let's imagine stacking the hard drives one on top of another and side by side to get an idea of just how massive these datasets are.

Using 1 terabyte capacity internal hard drives, which are 1 inch in height, we can calculate the total height of the hard drives.

For vx-underground's 30 terabytes of malware data, we would need 30 hard drives, reaching a height of 30 inches, or about 2.5 feet tall.

A Towering Comparison

For reference, this reporter is 6 feet tall.

Using the same logic, VirusTotal's 31 petabytes of submitted data would fill 31,744 hard drives, which stacked on top of another would reach about 2,645 feet.

The world's tallest building, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, is slightly taller at 2,722 feet.

The Eiffel Tower is 1,083 feet tall. By that logic, VirusTotal has about two-and-a-half Eiffel Towers' worth of data.

Conclusion

These massive datasets are crucial for cybersecurity and AI research.

The sheer scale of these data banks is a testament to the importance of malware research and the need for more secure online practices.