How big is the world's largest malware repository?

The malware research group vx-underground announced that its archives contain a collection of malicious code totaling approximately 30 terabytes. Meanwhile, VirusTotal founder Bernardo Quintero noted that their service hosts nearly 31 petabytes of malware samples submitted by users. These figures are crucial for cybersecurity companies and AI researchers to analyze threats and train detection models. This is reported by Techcrunch.com .

To visualize this massive database, let's assume the data is stored on standard 1-terabyte 3.5-inch hard disk drives (HDDs). Each disk is approximately 1 inch thick. If we stacked the 30 terabytes of data from vx-underground this way, the tower would reach only 30 inches or 76 centimeters.

The 31 petabytes of data on VirusTotal is far more staggering. Storing this volume would require 31,744 hard drives. If stacked one on top of another, the total height would reach 2,645 feet (approximately 806 meters). This is taller than the world's tallest building, the Burj Khalifa, clearly illustrating how vast the world of data is becoming.