A recent Associated Press (AP) report suggests that much of the malware prevalent on the Internet is hosted in four Asian countries that are amongst the 10 worst offending nations worldwide.
The Sophos' Security Threat Report 2007, written by a London-based security software company, suggests that the United States tops the list with 34.2 percent of malware websites, and China next hosting 31%. Taiwan was shown to host 1.7% of malware sites, Hong Kong 1%, and South Korea 0.9%. This makes the region the leading source of malware hosting.
"It's hardly surprising that these countries top the list, because they have got the most active Internet users," AP quoted Paul Ducklin of Sophos suggesting. "In China, the popularity of the Internet is growing very fast." The report also suggests that 30% of all malware (mainly Trojans) originates in China, with 17% of that malware designed to steal passwords from online gamers.
AP’s report quoted Carol Theriault, Sophos’ Senior Security Consultant, as expalining, “Given the effectiveness of web-based attacks, web hosting companies in the U.S. and elsewhere need to step up their policing of published content, and ensure that malicious code is quickly removed before innocent users get hit."
