Microsoft - Malware Infection Rates Higher in Developing Countries Than Developed Ones Microsoft released its Security Intelligence Report Vol. V on November 3, 2008, which states that the rates of malware infection were greater in developing nations than in the developed nations, but computers using higher security services had lower rates of malware infection. Moreover, despite most of the phishing attacks to steal sensitive data from computers are targeted at financial institutions in the US, the trend started to shift towards other English-speaking countries, specifically India and the UK. The report further revealed that the rates of malware infection ranged from 1.8 infected computers per 1,000 PCs scanned in Japan to more than 76.4 per 1,000 in Afghanistan. In US, the rate was 11.2 for every 1,000 PCs - a growth of 25.5% over the last six months since May 2008. Elsewhere, China had the highest number of browser-based exploits, accounting for 46.6% of the entire security incidents in the country, compared to 23.3% in the US, Microsoft said. Furthermore, the report indicates that threats are different in different regions around the globe. For instance - in Brazil, password-stealing programs are found to be the most frequent threat, whereas in China, PUPs (Potentially Unwanted Programs) and browser modifiers dominate. Specifically these PUPs are browser modifiers and pop-up toolbars for advertising. Further, in Korea, computer viruses form the highest number of threats, mostly spread via P2P file-sharing Websites, while in US, the greatest category of threats come from Trojan downloaders. Apart from this, Microsoft stated in its Security Intelligence Report that more than 50% of the total spam is related to pharmaceuticals. Pharmaceutical spam is a hot topic for spammers, accounting for 30.6% of all spam attempting to scourge users with sexual medications, with 20.9% persuading users to invest money in certain other medicines. The report also discloses that Web links embedded in spam messages divert users onto fake Websites through the technique known as 'phishing'. However, Microsoft recommended several protective steps for computer users,which comprise checking for software patches from Microsoft as well as third-party software vendors, deploying up-to-date anti-malware and firewall programs, and being very careful while opening attachments and links in e-mails though they come from the trusted the source. » SPAMfighter News - 18-11-2008

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