A Third of Antivirus Protected PCs Show Malware Infection Signs
We all know that the internet can be a dangerous place. It is a great place to gather all sorts of info on all kinds of topics. But the internet is also host to viruses, spyware, Trojans, keyloggers, and all sorts of other malware types. To protect your computer from all the nasties you can expect to encounter online, you should get an antivirus program – a genuine, properly good one, not a fake antivirus like the ones presented here.
A study (PDF warning) conducted by Dutch cloud security startup, SurfRight, revealed that about a third of PCs protected by genuine and up-to-date antivirus programs showed signs of malware infection. To be more precise, out of the 107,435 computers included in the study, 32% of them or 25,038 had been infected by malware. Keep in mind that on all these computers a genuine, up-to-date antivirus program was installed.
A slightly higher percentage of infected computers was registered amongst computers that had no security software solution in place. Out of the 107,435 computers included in the study, 46% or 13,002 were infected with malware.
"Our research shows that traditional antivirus software cannot keep up with cyber criminals," said SurfRight CEO, Mark Loman. "Despite all their efforts, it is often days or even weeks before some suppliers of antivirus programmes release a solution to a new threat."
SurfRight advises users not to rely on just one level of protection. Besides using an antivirus program, users should install a spam filer, keep their browser up-to-date, enable the firewall and always install the latest Service Pack. As the study showed, computers that have the latest Service Pack are less infected than the ones that do not. From time to time users could run a system scan using an alternative antivirus application.
Speaking of which, SurfRight offers its own malware scanner, Hitman Pro 3. The scanner, which can be downloaded straight from the SurfRight site (click here), will reportedly scan your PC in just a few minutes – and will do so without conflicting with your currently installed antivirus program. If you like Hitman Pro 3, you can use it free of charge for one month (30 days). To keep using it after this trial period you’ll have to pay for an annual subscription.
A study (PDF warning) conducted by Dutch cloud security startup, SurfRight, revealed that about a third of PCs protected by genuine and up-to-date antivirus programs showed signs of malware infection. To be more precise, out of the 107,435 computers included in the study, 32% of them or 25,038 had been infected by malware. Keep in mind that on all these computers a genuine, up-to-date antivirus program was installed.
A slightly higher percentage of infected computers was registered amongst computers that had no security software solution in place. Out of the 107,435 computers included in the study, 46% or 13,002 were infected with malware.
"Our research shows that traditional antivirus software cannot keep up with cyber criminals," said SurfRight CEO, Mark Loman. "Despite all their efforts, it is often days or even weeks before some suppliers of antivirus programmes release a solution to a new threat."
SurfRight advises users not to rely on just one level of protection. Besides using an antivirus program, users should install a spam filer, keep their browser up-to-date, enable the firewall and always install the latest Service Pack. As the study showed, computers that have the latest Service Pack are less infected than the ones that do not. From time to time users could run a system scan using an alternative antivirus application.
Speaking of which, SurfRight offers its own malware scanner, Hitman Pro 3. The scanner, which can be downloaded straight from the SurfRight site (click here), will reportedly scan your PC in just a few minutes – and will do so without conflicting with your currently installed antivirus program. If you like Hitman Pro 3, you can use it free of charge for one month (30 days). To keep using it after this trial period you’ll have to pay for an annual subscription.
