Trend Micro, a global leader in Internet content security, has warned that 2010 has already witnessed a dramatic increase in the number of infected PCs in the Middle East, because businesses and individuals fail to take adequate security precautions.
Trend Micro’s Smart Protection Network technology can see how many computers are active on the Internet.
The number of infected computers across the region is on the rise. In April of 2010, there were more than 740,097 infected machines that Trend Micro saw as active across the GCC – a 116 per cent rise in less than one year.
“The numbers of compromised machines are a key indicator of how well the cyber criminals are doing in stealing from this region.
The visible infections have more than doubled in less than one year.
The bad guys are winning because in this region we are not taking security seriously,” said Ian Cochrane, Marketing Manager, Med, Middle East and Africa.
“I see this growth continuing unless we start to recognize that this region is vulnerable and we start to take steps to protect ourselves,” Cochrane added.
This latest rise is a part of a historical trend in the GCC. From 2004 to 2009 the region saw an 8,140 per cent rise in the number of infected machines.
Over the years Saudi Arabia has been the most affected. From 2004 to 2009, the number of active and infected machines grew by a staggering 45,072 per cent. During the same period, the rate of infection in the UAE grew by 4,553 per cent.
In Kuwait it grew by 1,545 per cent, in Qatar it grew by 4,468 percent. Bahrain has seen an infection rate of 6,047 per cent and Oman 8,921 per cent for the same period.
“Our dependence on the Web raises our vulnerability and most of us are not even aware of our machines being compromised.
Protecting ourselves on the Internet does not have to be complex.
We just need to use professional security software that can also block threats, regular scanning and exercise personal caution,” said Dave Rand, CTO Trend Micro.