17 Million Without Antivirus in China; Rates to Increase

A recent study reports that 4.4% of all Internet usage in China is done without antivirus protection.

What is more disturbing is that these figures have actually increased when compared to figures from last year. The studies were conducted by the Chinese Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC) and China's National Computer Network Emergency Response Technical Team (CNCERT).

$2.2B In 'Service Fees' To Clean Up Attacks

In 2009, Chinese Internet users spent almost 15.3 billion yuan ($2.2 billion) on service fees designed to clean up after cyber attacks. It is also reported that free antivirus software was the most popular way to "get protected" in the Far East. (Source: yahoo.com)

With so much money invested in repairing damages, the increased figures of unprotected Internet users leaves many tech analysts perplexed.

Report Estimates 17 Million PCs Exploitable

CNNIC estimates that 384 million people in China were Internet users during the second half of last year, with the number of people in China with no antivirus software reaching close to 17 million. To put it plainly, China has an incredible number of PCs that are prone to infection.

The CNNIC also found that a significant number of Chinese Internet users owned "virtual property" stored on the Internet. This could include anything from online game data to "virtual coins" given on social-networking sites. Interestingly enough, nearly 15% of Chinese Internet users reported a loss of their 'property' due to log-in credential theft. (Source: idg.no)For hackers, there are an incredible number of online game players who would readily offer up real-world cash for such data, which yields all the points without the wasted hours of game play.

Mobile Phones Also Unprotected

Even if the number of unprotected PCs start to decline, China has one more problem waiting in the wings: Chinese mobile phones are also being used as Internet surfing devices, with a very high number of them going unprotected.