Germany, Top European Country in Disseminating Malware

According to Symantec, an anti-virus developer situated in the USA, almost one-half million PCs, which are infected with viruses or targeted with spam and phishing, are in the minimum as many bots belonging to so-called botnets that cyber-criminals remotely regulate, amongst which numerous belong to Germany. Spiegel Online published this in news on April 5, 2011.

The security company, in its Internet Security Threat report, Volume 16, reveals that Germany ranks No.1 amidst all the European nations in unleashing cyber assaults. Cyber-criminals favor this country as the best hub from where the entire assaults of spam, phishing and viruses can be launched, according to the report.

In fact, Symantec discovered that bots infected a total of 473,480 PCs in Europe. Bots are described as automated programs, which harm computers usually in the absence of their operators' knowledge.

Stated Symantec that 1 bot-infected PC from every 5 in Europe was located in Germany, while a mean of 1,946 bots i.e. malicious software created for distributing viruses or spam over the Internet remained vibrant in Germany on a daily basis. Automotive IT published this on April 6, 2011.

Moreover, as Trojans, spyware and phishing proliferate, Germany's experience with these remains far worse when compared to the preceding year (2010). Indeed, due to an increased launch of phishing campaigns, wherein fraudsters impersonate banks or other financial institutions with the objective of stealing secret information, Germany ranked No.2, up from No.6, following UK on No.1.

Furthermore, so far as employment of Trojans, malicious programs, which are capable of capturing important data from users' computers, is concerned, Germany climbed to No. 2 from No.5 in comparison with 2009. The Local reported this in news on April 5, 2011.

Meanwhile, according to Symantec, in addition to the huge quantitative rise, there had also been a qualitative rise in the assaults since 2009. Over and above, organizations appeared to be greatly targeted with well-refined assaults. Besides, attackers' focus on improved social networks was drawn, while the especially prevalent technique of shortened URLs through websites or e-mails marked the dissemination of spyware or other malware, according to the report.

Related article: Germany Restricts Anti-Hacking Legalization

» SPAMfighter News - 4/13/2011