(WEB HOST INDUSTRY REVIEW) — Web surfers in Turkey, Russia, Armenia and Azerbaijan are the most likely to confront a malicious computer attack or virus, according to a new study by Internet Security company AVG Technologies (www.avg.com.au).
According to the study released Tuesday that involved compiling data for 144 countries and 127 million PCs, AVG determined that Turkey leads the league table for the world’s riskiest Web surfers, with AVG’s software detecting threats in one out of every 10 Internet users, followed by Russia with 1 in 14 being hit, Armenia at 1 in 24, and Azerbaijan at 1 in 39. The risk in these countries is far higher than the average chance of being attacked online anywhere in the world, of which the odds are 1 in 73.
“This research tells us a lot about the typical behaviour of web surfers worldwide,” stated AVG spokesperson Roger Thomson. ”Internet users in Turkey, Russia and some Central Asian countries, the Caucasus, South-east Asian and Indian sub-continent states show disproportionately higher rates of being attacked than the global average of 1 in 73.”
While the Caucasus region recorded high rates of attacks, by continent, North America was deemed “riskiest” with the risk being 1 in 51. The US ranked ninth riskiest place to go online. Nor did European countries fare much better; UK ranked 31st riskiest place to Web browsers and Germany was number 41.
At the other end of the scale, some of the world’s safest surfers can be found in Japan and Taiwan, where given the broadband penetration in these countries as well as overall Internet use. One in 404 are attacked in Japan, and 1 in 248 in Taiwan.
While it has to noted that Internet penetration is much lower in Africa, seven of the 10 safest countries in which to surf the Internet are in Africa with Sierra Leone having a 1 in 692 risk of attack and Niger with its 1 in 442 risk.
AVG’s infographic charts the safest and most dangerous places to surf online.
Thomson noted that knowing what sites are safe plays a large in avoiding malicious content, often found on semi-legal or illegal download sites. “For example,” he said, “it’s worth noting that in Japan where both Internet use and broadband penetration are high, AVG software only picked up a Web attack for every 403rd user. Awareness levels in Japan about risky behaviour online are probably higher.”
