Rich Countries Suffer Less Malware, Says Microsoft Study

chicksdaddy writes "To paraphrase a quote attributed to F. Scott Fitzgerald: 'Rich countries aren't like everyone else. They have less malware.' That's the conclusion of a special Security Intelligence Report from Microsoft, anyway. The special supplement, released on Wednesday, investigated the links between rates of computer infections and a range of national characteristics including the relative wealth of a nation, observance of the rule of law and the rate of software piracy. The conclusion: cyber security (by Microsoft's definition: low rates of malware infection) correlated positively with many characteristics of wealthy nations – high Gross Income Per Capita, higher broadband penetration and investment in R&D and high rates of literacy. It correlated negatively with characteristics common in poorer nations – like demographic instability, political instability and lower levels of education.'"

Comments

You don't say?

[Maximalist]

Better literacy leads to a better ability to spot the poorly written bogus come-ons that get you infected when you click on them? I just can't believe it.

Re:You don't say?

[TWX]

Better literacy leads to a better ability to spot the poorly written bogus come-ons that get you infected when you click on them? I just can't believe it.

Not from what I've seen...

Having a techie friend call to fix it when it's broke is what gets most people out of the jam.

Though with my friends, I charge $60/hr to friends to fix their computers on the side. As a consequence I do maybe two side jobs a year. I don't want to do side work, and when they know that it'll cost probably $120 to get their $500 computer fixed, they do tend to be at least a little more careful.