December 3rd, 2008
Almost every Windows PC contains at least one insecure program
Sobering stats from Secunia. Out of a random sampling of 20,000 systems, a whopping 98.09% have one or more insecure program installed.
The total number of PCs/users included in these numbers are 20,000, out of these 98.09% have 1 or more insecure programs installed on their PC, hence: 98 out of 100 PCs that are connected to the Internet have insecure programs installed!
It gets worse - nearly half of all Windows systems have eleven or more insecure programs installed.
Here’s the data:
- 0 Insecure Programs: 1.91% of PCs
- 1-5 Insecure Programs: 30.27% of PCs
- 6-10 Insecure Programs: 25.07% of PCs
- 11+ Insecure Programs: 45.76% of PCs
This data is a subset of the data collected by Secunia’s own PSI (Personal Software Inspector) scanner software.
The more software someone has installed, the more chance there is of there being a vulnerable application installed. Since not all programs have a built-in update mechanism, vulnerable programs can remain installed (and open to being exploited) for a long time. The Secunia PSI scanner is a very quick and easy way of spotting vulnerable apps.
So, how secure are your systems?
Adrian is a technology journalist and author who has devoted over a decade to helping users get the most from technology. He also runs a popular blog called The PC Doctor. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations
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.....(NT)
