SAN FRANCISCO ? 2014 was the worst year yet for the spread of malware contends a new report that noted 75 million samples of malicious code were detected and eliminated. 2015 is expected to be even worse.

The Spanish cyber security company, Panda Security, released its report Monday. Panda said only 30 million new malware strains were recorded in 2013 by the company, which provides both home and business computer-security services. On average, 200,000 new malware strains were detected daily in 2014, Panda told CNET News.Com.

Some of the world’s biggest corporations fell victim to large-scale data breaches in 2014, including Sony, Home Depot and Target. In some of those instances, malware was placed on point of sale terminals to scoop up credit card numbers and other information. But the prominence of the victims may have been trumped by the pervasiveness of malware: In 25 years tracking malware, Panda has detected 220 million specimens — and 34 percent of those were coded in 2014, according to the report.

“Security threats will increase in 2015, and both companies and home users must prepare themselves to respond to them,” said Panda Security Technical Director Luis Corrons in a statement. “It is not a question of whether their security will be compromised but rather when and how, so in this case prevention is key.”

Panda is just the latest malware-watcher to document the spike this year in malware. AV-Test, a company that tests the effectiveness of antivirus software, reported last month that malware spiked in 2014 to more than 143 million detections, up 72 percent from last year. And Kaspersky Lab, another provider of home and business security products, saw four times more mobile malware attacks in 2014 than the year before.

Most security experts attribute the rise to hackers who are more sophisticated and eagerly adopt the latest in hacking methods. They can buy or freely download malware code, then change just a few pieces of it. Suddenly, the code is invisible to the antivirus programs. In an escalating game of cat and mouse, hackers are jumbling the code of their malware to avoid getting caught, using the same techniques companies use to protect sensitive files.

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