Microsoft - Australians Show Strong Resistance against Malware Infection

A new Microsoft's 'Security Intelligence Report', which is based on systems installed with its Malicious Software Removal Tool, has stated that almost 3.9 out of every 1000 PC systems in Australia contain some kind of malware, lesser than the worldwide average of 8.7.

The report has also disclosed while malware variants keep on surpassing other security threats, the total malware infection rate in Australia decreased by 6% in H1-2009 as compared to H2-2008.

It has been found that from the leading security threats in Australia, 70% were malware and 30% were potentially unnecessary software. Further, nineteen out of top twenty five threats were related to malware.

The most prevalent online threat in Australia (with respect to the number of computer systems infected) and the third most common danger internationally is "Renos", a Trojan installer. Renos automatically installs unnecessary software on systems and presents fake alerts stating that the machine is infested with spyware.

After presenting the warning, the Trojan offers to remove the supposed spyware without any charges or fee, and in some cases leads to system instability.

The second most widespread danger in Australia and the fourth most frequently found threat globally is "Zango Search Assistant", an Adware which controls web browsing activity and shows pop-up ads related to the sites being viewed.

According to Microsoft's Tally, Montenegro and Serbia had the highest infection rate around the globe, with almost 10% or 97.2 systems out of 1,000 were attacked by malware. Turkey was at No.2 position, with 32.3, whereas Brazil, Spain and South Korea occupied third fourth and fifth places, with infection rates of 25.4, 21.6 and 21.3 respectively.

Expressing their opinion on the lesser rate of malware infection in Australia, security experts have stated that it is either because Australians are more cautious of the threats, or because of the slow broadband connection that does not enable Australians to complete the installing Trojan and other such things on the systems. There is strong disagreement among security experts on both these issues.

However, the probability is that the rate of infection is actually higher, as people who have not operated Malicious Software Removal Tool or another tool are continuously ignoring bot-infected methods.

Related article: Microsoft Patches Live OneCare to Tackle Quarantined E-Mails

» SPAMfighter News - 11/25/2009