Survey Finds 96% Zombie PCs in Malaysia

Malaysia distributes one of the maximum spams and propagates most 'spam zombies' in Asia-Pacific, according to a recent survey. Techcentral published this finding on April 10, 2007. In spam distribution the country stands fifth and in zombie propagation, it ranks No.7. Ahead of Malaysia are China, South Korea, Taiwan, Japan, Thailand and Vietnam in that order.

The Internet Security Threat report of Symantec indicates that the most number of zombie PCs across the world is in the United States at 26%. In Asia-Pacific, Malaysia is No.9 having 1% of zombie PCs. Techcentral published this end week of March.

China engages in 11% of online malicious activities around the world, while Taiwan, Japan and South Korea together make up 7% of such crime including Internet attacks, bot attacks and spam. Symantec's Asia-Pacific Internet Security Threat report included other Asian countries as Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, New Zealand and Australia. Symantec released its report in the end week, March 2007. Businessweek published this during the same week.

Symantec's research found that of all messages coming from Malaysia, 84% were spam compared to 86% of unsolicited e-mails originating in the Philippines.

These messages flow out from PCs that hackers have compromised to send out spam mails or phishing e-mails that entice users to unwarily give away personal information like credit card numbers or bank account passwords.

According to Kannan Velayutham, enterprise security consultant at Symantec Malaysia, the basis for so many bot-infected PCs in the country is perhaps the low broadband use there. Techcentral published this on April 10, 2007. The problem lies in the lack of awareness among broadband users about the security measures they should adopt to protect their personal data and online identities, the survey revealed. Velayutham said 96% of PCs in Malaysia were zombie machines, according to the survey. Techcentral published this on April 10, 2007. The presence of this massive number of bot-infected PCs was maligning the country's impression.

Computer users need to be careful to keep their confidential information both personal and financial secret and not disclose them unless they are sure about the legitimacy of their request, cautioned Symantec.

Related article: Survey Finds Majority of Aussies to be Unaware of Phishing

» SPAMfighter News - 4/16/2007