Security firm Webroot Software has identified five million websites hosting malicious spyware during October.

One of the most widespread infections in the UK was Comet Cursor, a piece of adware capable of tracking a user’s online habits and transmitting the information to a third party.

Peter Watkins, the CEO of Webroot Software says “Spyware has become increasingly complex and sophisticated. The technology behind spyware has become so far advanced, and is moving so quickly, that manual detection methods utilized by many security companies and free ware providers can’t keep up with it,”

He went on, “Webroot’s dedicated Threat Research Center has pro actively identified five million sites that host malicious spyware utilizing the PhileasTM spyware research system. It utilizes a patent-pending technology to scour the entire Web to discover spyware faster and more efficiently than any other detection method available. As a result, this automated, high-speed system keeps consumers and businesses safer with better blocking, detection and removal rates.”

Webroot identified 007 Spy as the month’s most common system monitor. The malware records the activities of a computer, but is considered a critical threat only if the user is unaware of it being installed on their computer.