[real-eyes] 1-in-5 U.S. Windows PCs lack antivirus defenses

  • From: blindbites <blindbites@xxxxxxxxx>
  • To: nutkc@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, real-eyes@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
  • Date: Wed, 30 May 2012 12:25:17 -0500

First, there is no reason to be part of the group of people without 
anti-virus protection. Here are two free options.

For the PC: Microsoft Security Essentials
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows/products/security-essentials


For the Mac: Sophos Anti-Virus for Mac Home Edition
http://www.sophos.com/en-us/products/free-tools/sophos-antivirus-for-mac-home-edition.aspx

Now for the story

https://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9227570/1_in_5_U.S._Windows_PCs_lack_antivirus_defenses

1-in-5 U.S. Windows PCs lack antivirus defenses
Expired trial software accounts for more than a third of the 19.3% of 
American computers that browse naked
By Gregg Keizer
May 30, 2012 12:48 PM ET
. What's this?
Computerworld - Nearly a fifth of Windows PCs in the U.S. lack any 
active security protection, an antivirus vendor said today, citing 
numbers from a year-long project.
"The scale of this is unprecedented," argued Gary Davis, the director of 
global consumer product marketing for McAfee, talking about the scope of 
his company's sampling of PC security.
McAfee took measurements from scans of more than 280 million PCs over 
the last 12 months, and found that 19.3% of all U.S. Windows computers 
browsed the Web sans security software. Owners of those systems 
downloaded and used McAfee's free Security Scan Plus, a tool that checks 
for antivirus programs and enabled firewalls.
Globally, the average rate was 17%, putting the U.S. in the top 5 
most-unprotected countries of the 24 represented in the scans.
Of the unprotected PCs in the U.S., 63% had no security software at all, 
while the remaining 37% had an AV program that was no longer active. The 
latter were likely trial versions of commercial antivirus software that 
had expired.
Antivirus trials are a fact of life in the Windows world. Most new 
machines come with security software that runs for a limited time. Some 
new Dell PCs, for example, come with a 30-day trial of McAfee's Security 
Center program.
"All security companies use pretty assertive means to get users to 
continue when their subscription expires," acknowledged Davis. "We all 
try to keep you in the fold."
The fact that more than a third of the Windows systems surfing the 
Internet without antivirus defenses do so because trials have expired is 
a problem for not just the security business but for users as well, 
Davis contended. Hijacked computers affect the entire Windows ecosystem 
by sending spam, conducting denial-of-service attacks or spreading malware.
Some countries fared better, others much worse, than the U.S.
Finland, for instance, sported a no-defense rate of just 9.7%, or about 
half that of the U.S. But Singapore's was even higher at 21.8%, with 
Mexico not far behind at 21.6%.
Counter-intuitively, Windows computers in places like China, India and 
Russia were more likely to be protected than those in the U.S., Davis 
said. "They're more in the middle of the pack," he said.
China's and India's unprotected PC rates were more than a percentage 
point lower than the U.S.'s.
Davis said he was "shocked" at the 17% global number and the 19.3% in 
the U.S., in part because it was nearly triple the 6% often cited by 
surveys that ask users if they're running AV software.
He attributed the difference to a number of factors, including users who 
thought they were protected when actually their security software trial 
had lapsed, and some skewing in McAfee's data due to the self-selecting 
nature of the pool of PCs it scans. "Some probably do suspect that their 
antivirus is turned off, and so take advantage of our free scan," 
admitted Davis.
But McAfee's number is lower than Microsoft's.
Last year, Microsoft said its telemetry showed an increasing number of 
unprotected Windows 7 machines, and like McAfee, attributed part of that 
increase to aging PCs with expired AV trials. According to Microsoft, 
24% of Windows 7 systems lacked protection.
"What will be interesting is if Windows 8 gets critical mass, because AV 
is now part of Windows 8," said Davis, referring to Microsoft's decision 
to blend Security Essentials with Windows Defender, then bundle the 
protection -- to be known by the latter label -- with the OS.
Unprotected PC chart
In the U.S., 19.3% of scanned Windows PCs lack antivirus defenses, 
putting the country in the top 5 of most-unprotected countries. (Image: 
McAfee.)
Gregg Keizer covers Microsoft, security issues, Apple, Web browsers and 
general technology breaking news for Computerworld. Follow Gregg on 
Twitter at Twitter @gkeizer, on Google+ or subscribe to Gregg's RSS feed 
Keizer RSS. His email address is gkeizer@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
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