The danger of corporate computers becoming infected by worms has risen dramatically, a study by Microsoft found.
The study found that, globally, the chances of infection by a computer worm had increased by almost 100 percent when comparing the first half of the year with a year earlier.
The threat is focused mainly on business computers. Private users get off lightly by comparison, partially because they are more likely than corporate customers to make sure their computers have the newest security software.
Germany and Austria both have PC infection rates significantly below the global average of 0.87 percent: 0.3 and 0.21 percent, respectively.
Germany usually performs well in such tests, Microsoft spokesman and security expert Thomas Baumgaertner said.
This is partially because Germany has a high penetration rate for fast DSL lines. This infrastructure insures that computer users regularly update their security software.
Despite the higher risk of worm attacks, the study said worms only make up about 6.7 percent of all attacks, meaning they are only the fourth most predominant threat. Trojan horse attacks claim first place in Germany, with 39.5 percent of all attacks.
These attackers disguise themselves as harmless software, but then insinuate themselves into a computer and allow remote access. Examples include programs like Wintrim and Alureon.
The most predominant worms are Conficker, followed by Taterf, which saw a 156 percent increase in its infection rate, reported the study.
Worldwide, the greatest threat remained attacks via fake security software. More than 13 million such attacks were blocked by computers with the help of Microsoft software in the first half of the year. A year ago, that figure was 16.8 million.
Microsoft presents its Security Intelligence Report twice a year.
The Eurovision Song Contest has seen a surge in punter interest at the bookmakers, becoming a major betting event, experts said ahead of last night’s giant glamfest in Basel. “Eurovision has quietly become one of the biggest betting events of the year,” said Tomi Huttunen, senior manager of the Online Computer Finland (OCS) betting and casino platform. Betting sites have long been used to gauge which way voters might be leaning ahead of the world’s biggest televised live music event. However, bookmakers highlight a huge increase in engagement in recent years — and this year in particular. “We’ve already passed 2023’s total activity and
Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) today announced that his company has selected "Beitou Shilin" in Taipei for its new Taiwan office, called Nvidia Constellation, putting an end to months of speculation. Industry sources have said that the tech giant has been eyeing the Beitou Shilin Science Park as the site of its new overseas headquarters, and speculated that the new headquarters would be built on two plots of land designated as "T17" and "T18," which span 3.89 hectares in the park. "I think it's time for us to reveal one of the largest products we've ever built," Huang said near the
China yesterday announced anti-dumping duties as high as 74.9 percent on imports of polyoxymethylene (POM) copolymers, a type of engineering plastic, from Taiwan, the US, the EU and Japan. The Chinese Ministry of Commerce’s findings conclude a probe launched in May last year, shortly after the US sharply increased tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles, computer chips and other imports. POM copolymers can partially replace metals such as copper and zinc, and have various applications, including in auto parts, electronics and medical equipment, the Chinese ministry has said. In January, it said initial investigations had determined that dumping was taking place, and implemented preliminary
Intel Corp yesterday reinforced its determination to strengthen its partnerships with Taiwan’s ecosystem partners including original-electronic-manufacturing (OEM) companies such as Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) and chipmaker United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電). “Tonight marks a new beginning. We renew our new partnership with Taiwan ecosystem,” Intel new chief executive officer Tan Lip-bu (陳立武) said at a dinner with representatives from the company’s local partners, celebrating the 40th anniversary of the US chip giant’s presence in Taiwan. Tan took the reins at Intel six weeks ago aiming to reform the chipmaker and revive its past glory. This is the first time Tan
RSS