US Leads the World In Malware Creation

PetManimal writes "Symantec says that China, Russia, and the other developing countries usually blamed for the increasing amount of malware are not the biggest culprits. The security software company released a report (PDF) claiming that the US leads the world in a number of malware categories, ranging from the 'amount of malicious activity originating from their networks' to 'underground economy servers.' Preston Gralla says the US lead should come as no surprise, considering the capitalist way of life and the high level of technical knowledge. He also suggests that the some of the 'criminals' may actually be Internet entrepreneurs who crossed over to the dark side: 'It's an inevitable result of a thriving free market and tech expertise. An underground economy often mirrors the legal, above-ground one. Scratch a criminal, and sometimes you find a misguided entrepreneur, looking to get rich a little too quick.'"

Comments

misguided?

[jaymzru]

Scratch a criminal, and sometimes you find a misguided entrepreneur, looking to get rich a little too quick.
Is malware even illegal? How is malware different from say, an automatic update or some other less than desirable software? Just because something is annoying doesn't necessarily mean it's illegal and that the author is a criminal.

Engineers vs Programms

[Anonymous Coward]

Agreed , not all 'malware' is out to get you, there is a fine line though between
adware and 'malware' at times.

a good software engineer, that is a 'real engineer' would refuse to create such a product, as they are sworn to protect the public interest at all costs.

A programmer mind you, unless they are ethical, goes where the money is.

Lets call the industry what it is, and the workers what they are. Engineers != programmers.

Engineers can be held accountable, in many ways. Programmers on the other hand, can always hide behind the shield of the corporation.

Re:Oh, yeah! Teh U-S Rulz! W00T! We Rock!

[CmdrGravy]

Advert for the Economist at the moment reads:

"Invest in the 4th largest world economy. Before it's number 1. China"

Say what?!

[smooth wombat]

and the high level of technical knowledge.

If Americans did have a high level of technical knowledge, the amount of spyware infections (and related matters) would be significantly lower. Considering we lead the world in malware creation, that argues for a lower level of technical knowledge.

Punch the monkey to win money! Give us your email address and we'll send you free offers! Install this program to prevent infections!

Let's put it this way: I went to the dentist recently and the girl who was going to scrape my teeth asked what I did and where I worked. When I told her I work in IT and for a specific government agency, she said that she wished she knew more about computers but she didn't have the time to figure them out.

So, we have someone who admits they don't know enough about a subject yet aren't willing to take the time to learn more about it. Yup, this America. If it isn't easy, we're not interested.