One in Three European Internet Users Infected with Malware in 2010

According to a report from Eurostat [pdf], around a third of European Union's Internet users were infected with a virus during 2010 resulting in information or time loss.

The data is the result of a survey conducted during the second quarter of last year among individuals from all 27 member states.

[ADAMRK=1]Bulgaria had the highest infection rate, with 58% of respondents saying their computers were affected by some type of malware. It was followed by Malta (50%), Slovakia (47%), Hungary (46%) and Italy (45%).

The EU country with the lowest infection count was Austria (14%). Other countries with low rates included Ireland (15%), Finland (20%) and Germany (22%).

On average, 4% of European Internet users had to deal with privacy violations, like the exposure of their personal data, while 3% suffered monetary loss as the result of phishing attacks.

UK had the second most highest rate in the monetary loss category with 7% of users reporting such problems. Latvia was first with 8% and the top three was completed by Malta and Austria with 5% both.

The survey also analyzed differences in the use rate of security tools among people in different countries. At European level, the average security software use ratio was 84%, but in countries like Netherlands, Luxembourg, Malta and Finland, it was over 91%.

Even in countries that scored the lowest, such as Latvia (62%), Romania (64%) and Estonia (65%), the rate was still close to two-thirds.

Malta's case is intriguing. While the country has one of the highest rates of security software use (91%), it is also at the top when it comes to malware infections or successful phishing attacks.

This raises some interesting questions. Is the software used by people in this country inefficient? Is it not used as it should be? Is it kept up to date?

The report was released in preparation for Safer Internet Day, February 8, when methods of using the Internet safely will be promoted, especially to children.