#52 EU leads with Zombie infections

Here is something that not everyone knows.

The European Union leads the world in the number of computers that are controlled remotely by hackers. So-called zombie PCs are infected with viruses or penetrated through poor patching and used to send spam or launch denial of service attacks. Data from email security specialist CipherTrust shows that 26 per cent of all PCs infected in May are located in the EU, compared with 20 per cent in the US and 15 per cent in China.The UK accounted for three per cent of the world's total, with Germany leading Europe at six per cent. Over May an average of 172,000 new PCs were infected each month.

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission, in conjunction with regulatory bodies in about 30 countries, is about to launch an education campaign directed at Internet service providers (ISP). Its message? "Zombies are out of control. " These "zombie" networks account for a large percentage of unsolicited e-mail being sent on the Internet, said Don Blumenthal, Internet lab coordinator at the FTC. "I've seen estimates that anywhere from 80% to 90% of the spam out there is processed through" zombie networks, he said. "It is certainly a critical problem."