Microsoft finds 60% infection rate in PCs
Microsoft on Monday said that it found and removed malicious programs - called "bots" - from six out of 10 Windows computers checked during a recent 15-month period.
The disclosure, announced in a report at the Tech Ed conference in Boston, is the strongest proof yet that bots are contaminating wide swaths of the Internet. Bots infect PCs with software that allows them to be controlled by an attacker to spread spam, attack websites or steal identity data.
"We're seeing an extremely active level of activity," says Matthew Braverman, Microsoft product manager. "Most malicious software we see today affecting Windows customers is more tied to financial gain."
Microsoft scanned the PCs of 5.7 million consumers and small-business owners who used its free scanning tool from January 2005 through March 2006. It found:
- At least one "backdoor Trojan" - malicious computer code sneaked onto PCs - on 3.5 million computers, 62% of those scanned; most functioned as bots communicating over a private messaging channel to a controller.
- About 20% of the PCs checked during one period had been cleaned, then re-infected, most often with a different kind of bot.
- About 35% of the bots were implanted when victims opened attachments sent via e-mail, instant messages or Peer-to-Peer websites that share data files. Most of the rest spread with no action by the victim required.
Microsoft's findings came as no surprise to security experts. "Imagine what the infection rate is for people like my mom who have no idea about malicious software," says Robert Fleischman, chief technology officer at security firm Simplicita.
Cyberintrusions are flourishing as more consumers have high-speed Internet connections and trust the Web to do everything from buying books to applying for a mortgage. U.S. online retail sales grew to $81 billion in 2005, up from $31 billion in 2001. Meanwhile, 43 million U.S. households had high-speed connections in 2005, up from 10.5 million in 2001, according to JupiterResearch.
"Every time we see a spike in broadband adoption, we see a correlating spike in bot-infected machines," says David Cole, director of Symantec's security response team. "Broadband means the PC is always on with a decent connection, and a lot of these machines have minimal security protection."
Reproduced from an article published by Yahoo! News
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