Security News > 2010 > February > China leads the world in hacked computers, McAfee study says

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/14/AR2010021403817.html By Ellen Nakashima Washington Post Staff Writer February 15, 2010 More private computers were commandeered by hackers for malicious purposes in China in the last quarter of 2009 than in any other country, including the United States, according to a new study by an Internet security company. These "zombie" computers are often grouped into "botnets," or armies of infected computers that can be used to send spam e-mail or attack Web sites, according to McAfee, a Silicon Valley security firm. The company, which said it collects information about Internet-based threats that target more than 100 million computers in 120 countries, said that in the last three months of 2009, about 1,095,000 computers in China and 1,057,000 in the United States were infected. Those numbers are in addition to 10 million or so previously infected computers in each country, McAfee said. The prevalence of botnets is a sign of how vulnerable computer networks are to infiltration, a subject of increasing international debate as companies and governments seek to defend their computer systems from intruders. [...] ________________________________________ Did a friend send you this? From now on, be the first to find out! Subscribe to InfoSec News http://www.infosecnews.org

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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/14/AR2010021403817.html