Which US Cities Have The Worst Malware Infection Rates? (techrepublic.com) 52
A new report from Enigma Software Group identifies the American cities with abnormally high infection rates for malware. An anonymous reader quotes TechRepublic:
In 2016, Tampa, Orlando, and St. Louis each had malware infection rates per capita more than five times the national average -- the highest in the U.S., the report found. Those same three cities were also at the top of the list of highest infection rates in 2015... ESG compiled malware detection data from its SpyHunter anti-spyware software in the 100 largest cities in the US in all of 2016.
Two Ohio cities also made it into the top ten for malware infection rates -- Cleveland and Cincinnati -- as well as Washington D.C. (with an infection rate 242% higher than the national average). But the infection rates drop noticeably after the top 10, with Miami (at #14) the last city with an infection rate more than double the national average. Interestingly, the top 35 cities include major high-tech centers like Seattle, Austin, Boston, and San Jose.
Two Ohio cities also made it into the top ten for malware infection rates -- Cleveland and Cincinnati -- as well as Washington D.C. (with an infection rate 242% higher than the national average). But the infection rates drop noticeably after the top 10, with Miami (at #14) the last city with an infection rate more than double the national average. Interestingly, the top 35 cities include major high-tech centers like Seattle, Austin, Boston, and San Jose.
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I want access to the raw data before I accept the claims of a cybersecurity form touting its products in the article. Open data science or shut-up.
That's easy (Score:5, Funny)
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That's offensive and racist against white people.
Floridians aren't stupid, they just have alternative intelligence.
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Interesting... Tampa (Score:1)
Re: Summary Omits Facts (Score:2)
Older people less astute with technology? (Score:3)
Re:Older people less astute with technology? (Score:5, Interesting)
This is somewhat insanely true.
I was just given an old computer to "remove anything that needs removed to make it safe to throw away". It was about 3 years old and had so many pop ups that they just purchased a new computer. I told them I could probably fix the pop ups if everything else worked ok. She said whatever, I can have it if I could fix it.
I started diving into this system thinking it would be infested with a bunch of malware, viruses and whatnot. Outside of tracking cookies, I couldn't find anything. The pop ups were to update java, their HP software for the printer they threw away when it stopped printing after 6 months of no use, some brother software saying there was updates and a bunch of notifications from games and other software saying there was updates available. She was using an older version of internet explorer which likely allowed a lot of pop ups when surfing the web. She essentially purchased another computer because she didn't understand crap needed updated from time to time or how to update it or that other web browsers exist without all the issues some have.
It isn't a high end computer but it isn't a bottom of the barrel system either. Its free outside of updating all the software and removing the preinstalled advertising crap that originally came with it so I have nothing to complain about. Just makes you wonder about what people are thinking.
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I don't think grandma is the only problem. San Jose is high on the list, and I think it's because we have far too many ignorant techies who are obsessed with getting the latest new fad, going to every possible web site that's cool, getting all the latest gadgets, using the latest apps, etc. Never mind the ignorant techies actually making the security flaws in the first place.
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San Jose is basely higher than the national average but don't forget that a quarter of the city's population is of Mexican descent and San Jose is the city with the largest Vietnamese population outside of Vietnam. There's a lot of lower income families in the city and I think that the infection rate can probably be correlated with any of income (you can download this for free), education, or age as these are all factors that would lead to higher risk of being infected in the first place.
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And you cleaned it up instead of wiping/reinstalling Windows? Even though there was nothing important on it anymore? That seems like an awful lot of work with no reward.
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First, if you know what you are doing, wiping and reinstalling windows takes more time than cleaning an infested computer. But that wasn't the take you should have received from this. But what you should have taken away should be that someone was throwing the computer away because they didn't understand or comprehend the underlying issue with it and more or less thought it was worn out like a pair of socks that start getting holes in them.
As for no reward,. Some people like the challenge of cleaning the sys
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First, if you know what you are doing, wiping and reinstalling windows takes more time than cleaning an infested computer.
More clock time maybe, but very little clicking or watching. In this case, they were also wanting to eliminate personal files and remove their profiles, and possibly any licensed software that they've moved to another computer - this is a computer that was being repurposed for another person, not the original owner. All the Windows cruft from years of usage being gone is reason enough alone for wiping in that case. You can remove the virus first if you want the challenge.
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I'm not sure if you are aware of this or not, but formatting a hard drive and reinstalling the operating system doesn't remove the information any better than simply deleting it. It's a zero sum gain unless you use a program to specifically write over the deleted or formatted information. There is no difference and it can be recovered easily in both cases (actually easier with a format because the file name isn't altered like when you delete a file).
There is generally both more time and input in reinstallin
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So you have to do a full wipe anyway...aren't you agreeing with me? You can't safely throw it away without doing so.
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To throw it away or give it to someone you do not trust- yes. A full wipe is needed.
But you are missing the point. It didn't need thrown away, it needed user education.
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Really, they should've compared the ratio of per capita malware infection rate, to per capita computer ownership rate. That'll give you malware infection rate per computer, which is the stat you really want.
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Grandma is also less likely to own a computer. .
That was true probably 10 years ago. This, nope, not true anymore.
Do humans count as malware? (Score:2)
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Yes they count. Some giant anti-virus needs to clean and reboot that system.
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Re: Do humans count as malware? (Score:2)
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Ah, so he spends a ton of money on advertising, preying on the weak-minded with trumped up threats, and doing little if anything to solve real problems?
Where's the correlation to age? (Score:2)
I was expecting to see a correlation or statistic also pointing out the median age of city residents with a trend towards higher infection rates among older population.
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Internet was new, expensive and a new computer was just not needed. Work or school had a few computers.
Entire generations only had computers at work or for a few hours to study with education applications.
When computers became cheap more people got a consumer OS at just enjoyed a few games or needed work related applications.
Vast areas wi
Which US cities have worst malware infection rates (Score:2)
Well of course St Louis has issues (Score:3)
It has to drag down the people of St Louis having a giant arch named after a failed computer manufacturer [wikipedia.org].
As for the other two - Florida. 'nuff said.