One Fifth of UK PCs Infected by Malware

Over one fifth of all UK PCs are infected with some form of malware, while one third of all PCs across the world are also affected, according to new research from Panda Security.

The firm’s Quarterly Report for Q1 found that 31.13 percent of PCs around the world are now infected, and that China is responsible for the vast majority, with over half of all machines in the country infected. Second was Ecuador with a 41 percent infection rate, while Turkey was third at 40 percent.
The table below shows the ten most infected nations across the globe.

The UK fared better, ranking as the fourth safest country, just behind Finland, Sweden and Switzerland. Although this sounds good, over 21 percent of UK machines are infected, while Finland still has a 17 percent infection rate.
The rising tide of cyber crime means that Panda Security detected over six million new malware samples in the first quarter of the year, with the vast majority – 80 percent – taking the form of Trojans. Tools like Java and Adobe Reader remain some of the most at-risk services exploited by criminals.
“Trojans are cyber-crooks’ weapons of choice, which explains why they account for most new specimens in circulation and infections triggered in the first quarter of the year,” explained Luis Corrons, technical director of PandaLabs.
Earlier this week it was revealed that Chinese hackers had hit the US Department of Labor website with a malicious code attack while a new report on Friday from Trend Micro predicted that Latin America is becoming the next hotbed for cyber crime, as well as the Caribbean.