Australian PCs cleaner than average

Stephen Withers
Thursday, 11 December 2008 09:09

Opinion and Analysis

The incidence of malware on Australian computers is below the worldwide average, but there are signs that things may be getting worse.

According to the latest Microsoft Security Intelligence Report, only 6.9 computers per thousand cleaned by the company's disinfection and security software (so we're only talking about Windows-based systems) were infected with malware.

This compares with a worldwide average of ten per thousand across a user base of several hundred million computers.

The way some people talk about Windows and malware, you'd think every other machine was infected. While one percent is still too high, it does help to bring things into perspective.

You can't help wondering whether people that take the trouble to use anti-malware tools might be generally more security conscious than the rest.

The increase in the amount of malware removed between the second half of 2007 and 2008 does seem a cause for concern.

The figures rose by 43 percent globally and 55 percent for Australia.

Most companies would be very happy with volume growth around 50 percent in six months.

What about other countries? Please read on.