31,98% of Computers worldwide Infected

Security Software Company PandaLabs have published a new report with statistics of malwares distributed on personal computers in 2012. According to this report 27 million new malware sample are observed during this year with average of 74,000 new malware daily. In addition, cyber-attacks against multinational corporations continued to increase, with victims from companies in the video game industry (Blizzard) to auto giants (Nissan).
The statistics shows that Viruses and Trojans are installed on each computer in the third world, but in China and South Korea – more than half of the computers. China – 54.89%, South Korea – 54.15%.

 

  Most malware infected countries in 2012

When it comes to standards and regulations countries that have advanced security measures with security software installed and regular patching are the least exposed to malicious software such as Sweden, Switzerland and Norway with infection rates of 20-21%.

 

Least malware-infected countries (click to enlarge)

Also the number of Trojans that have been tracked by researchers is increasing as in 2010 they accounted for more than half of all malware created (56 percent), in 2011 they rose to 73.31 percent, whereas in 2012 they reached 76.57 percent. Worms came second (11.33 percent compared to 8.13 percent in 2011), whereas viruses dropped to third place at 9.67.

 

Malware Infections by type in 2012 (click to enlarge)

The report concludes that:
“For two decades, the amount of malware has been growing dramatically. Despite security forces being better prepared to combat this type of crime, they are still handicapped by the absence of borders on the internet. A police force can only act within its jurisdiction, whereas a cyber-crook can launch an attack from country A, steal data from citizens of country B, send the stolen data to a server situated in country C and could be living in country D. This can be done in just a few clicks, whereas coordinated action of security forces across various countries could take months. For this reason, cyber-criminals are still living their own golden era.”
To protect yourself be sure to apply the following:

• Use a modern windows operating system such as windows Se7en as they contain more security modules to protect users.
• Install security software that include antivirus, Host based intrusion prevention system, beside the workstation application firewall to filter and detect any suspicious behavior.
• Use the administrator right only when they are really required.
• Update all your third party applications like web browsers or pdf readers in an instant manner and you can use Secunia free solution to identify required patches.
• Encrypt all your sensitive information with a solid encryption algorithm to prevent any data leakage or that another malware do it for you