Threat Count Ahead of Machine Count, Says Microsoft

Microsoft's list of top ten malicious detections for August 2009 has highlighted an important fact that the total of "Threat Count" outshines that of the "Machine Count" in several countries.

As per the software giant, this interesting observation can be attributed to several factors, comprising attacks launched by multiple malware families on the same system, multiple versions of the same malware family detected on the same PC as well as re-infections of the same system. A single computer, for instance, may be attacked with multiple malicious codes of Autorun and Conficker simultaneously.

To present its point in a stronger and clear way to netizens, Microsoft elucidates the example of the US that always tops the list of countries with maximum number of malicious threats detected. It stated that machines infected in the country in August 2009 amounted to 2,183,166 while the threat count was recorded to be 8,750,628. This sufficiently clarifies Microsoft's observation.

China followed the US at the second position with total machine count of 383,378 and threat count of 1,085,140 detected in August 2009. These high figures can be attributed to the vast population base of the country, particularly its large tech-savvy population.

Brazil, at No. 3, was detected with threat count and machine count of 737,322 and 282,152 respectively for the month of August.

Expressing their views on the latest finding of the Microsoft's report, Scott Wu and Marian Radu, member of the Microsoft malware Protection Center (MMPC) have written that the top ranking given to the US strengthens the fact that it is by default the prime target for the majority of malicious codes, as reported by The Register on August 31, 2009.

The experts further added that it is an entirely different story in case of China and Brazil. China is a foremost target for stealers of online games passwords and thus, the black market associated with it. On the other hand, Brazil is a prime target for the password stealers of bank accounts.

At last, Microsoft and its security experts, as usual, advised users to keep their security software and other patches updated. Netizens have also been asked to ensure that they are in possession of genuine security software as a rogueware may further result in their systems being compromised.

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» SPAMfighter News - 9/22/2009