A report released by the Chinese Ministry of Public Security
today reveals that 87.9% of computers in the country were infected
with a virus this year.
The official figures reflect the huge popularity of the internet
in China, with in excess of 68 million surfers, as more and more
viruses spread themselves via email and the internet. This is in
spite of many viruses continuing to tempt users to double-click on
their attachments using English language.
According to the report, the hardest hitting viruses were the
Sasser and Netsky worms. A German
teenager has been charged in connection
with the creation and distribution of these viruses which struck
computer users hard around the world earlier this year.
Meanwhile, 36% of security incidents were said to have been
caused by massive spam transmissions. A study issued by
Sophos last month revealed that China was the third biggest
exporter of spam - with spammers regularly hacking into innocent
users' computers to send out unwanted bulk email.
"Wherever you are in the world you cannot escape the menace of
viruses and spam. It is essential that you protect your computer
with the latest anti-virus updates and anti-spam software," said
Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant for Sophos. "Chinese
computers which are not properly protected are passing on viruses
to the rest of the world, and acting as a springboard for spammers
wishing to exploit computers to pump out email sewage."
The Chinese government survey collected information from over
7000 departments, including those in commerce, education and
research, finance, government, and telecommunications. In addition
over 8400 computer users were also surveyed.
Sophos is headquartered in Boston, US and Oxford, UK. More information is available at www.sophos.com.