Bitdefender, a provider of antivirus solutions, has announced the results of a new study revealing that more than one in 10 computers running a security solution are still infected with malware, while their users are certain they are fully protected.
The study, which was conducted using QuickScan, Bitdefender’s free online antivirus scanner, was carried out between February 2013 and May 2013, and shows that on average 11.6% of the computers scanned are actively infected with at least one piece of malware. The study also shows the infected computers run a variety of operating systems, ranging from unsupported versions of Windows (such as Windows 2000) to Microsoft’s latest operating system (Windows 8).
QuickScan telemetry also found that 9.28% of the scanned systems running Windows 2000 were infected. The popular Microsoft operating system Windows XP, which is set to be retired next April, had a scan-to-infection rate of 12.87 percent.
Of the newest operating systems from Microsoft, 11.47% of the scanned machines running Windows 7 and another security solution were found to be infected. In contrast, only 4.59% of the new Windows 8 machines scanned were infected. The study also revealed that the largest numbers of infected computers are in India (infection rate: 14.48%), Romania (11.55%), the United States (5.43%), and France (7.47%).
Catalin Cosoi, chief security strategist at Bitdefender, said: "Widespread access to the internet has had a dramatic impact on malware production.
"In less than 10 years, malware has grown from scattered samples to more than 145 million known threats at a growth rate of roughly 40,000 samples per day. This puts an enormous stress on an antivirus product and increases the chance of infection.
"A security solution should offer full protection against malware, but that is not always the case in real life. That’s why a second opinion from a different security solution could save you a lot of trouble, especially before sensitive operations such as e-banking or online purchases."
