Australian PCs cleaner than average

Stephen Withers
Thursday, 11 December 2008 10:09

Opinion and Analysis

One area where Microsoft has been vindicated is the relative security of Vista compared with Windows XP. Even when you compare the original release of Vista with XP SP3, the newer operating system has around half the incidence of malware.

Furthermore, "On Windows Vista–based computers, 94 percent of the browser-based exploits targeted non-Microsoft software. The top 10 browser-based exploits on Windows Vista–based computers all targeted non-Microsoft software."

This makes a mockery of accusations that software that can automatically check for updates is a form of spyware. Manually keeping track of updates for all the software installed on your computer is an arduous task, and one that's likely to be neglected.

Keeping software up to date needs to be as easy as possible, although there are risks in making it a completely automatic process - as we have seen from time to time when updates to security software mistakenly identify important and harmless files as threats.

So what's the world's most prevalent malware? According to Microsoft, it's Zlob "by a wide margin. In 1H08, it was removed from more than twice as many computers worldwide as the second most prevalent family."

"The research from the first half of 2008 shows that while Microsoft and others in the industry have made significant progress towards helping protect customers from malicious threats online, threats to businesses and consumers still continue to evolve," said Stuart Strathdee, strategic security advisor at Microsoft Australia.

"We are committed to applying the data and intelligence from the report to our research and response efforts to provide customers with increased protection and services."