News

13 percent of home networks infected with malware in 2012

The average person may not know it, but their computer may be sick. According to a new report from Alcatel-Lucent's Kindsight Security Labs, 13 percent of home networks were infected with malware in 2012.

Of those infected home networks, 6 percent were found to contain a high threat level botnet, rootkit or banking Trojan while the other 6 percent of homes were found to contain a moderate threat level malware such as spyware, browser hijackers or adware. The remaining 2 percent of home networks had displayed both high and moderate threats. The report also identified botnets​ as a major issue with 4 of the top 5 threats stemming from the malicious networks, and almost 50 percent of infected home networks having a botnet issue. The high threat level ZeroAccess bot was the most common malware in 2012, claiming nearly 20 percent of all computer security issues that were analyzed.

Cybersecurity experts are likely to face an ongoing battle, as the report predicted continued proliferation of highly resilient botnets such as ZeroAccess. On the web server end, experts also anticipate exploit kits hosted on compromised servers will continue to be the major infection source.

To put the latest figures in perspective, a June 2012 report released by the International Telecommunication Union found that by the end of 2011, 2.3 billion people were online. Not factoring in the growth in internet usage in 2012, as many as 300 million home networks are likely to be affected by a form of malicious software.

While no solution is foolproof, keeping networks and software applications equipped with the latest authentication tools - in combination with ensuring that all software is running on the latest updates - remains the best way to keep information safe from "prying eyes." Rather than wait for something bad to happen to your's or your customers' data, get your SSL certificate today.

corporate office

Thawte
The Gateway
Century Lane
Century City, 7441
Cape Town
South Africa

Postal Address:
P O Box 15986
Panorama 7500
Cape Town
South Africa

Call: +27 21 819 2200
Fax: +27 21 819 2950