1 in 5 Home PC Users at Risk from Cyber Threats

REDWOOD CITY, Calif., March 12, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Avast (LSE:AVST), a global leader in digital security products, today revealed that in any given month, home users of Windows 7, 8 and 10 computers have a 20% chance of encountering any type of PC threat. Afghanistan, Iran and China topped the list as the countries where home PC users are most at risk, while Pakistan, Vietnam, and China are the countries where businesses are more likely to encounter a cyber threat.

The Avast Global PC Risk Report 2019, which analyzed data from the Avast threat detection database, also found that Windows 10 home users are the most likely to encounter an 'advanced attack,' which is defined as a new, not yet seen before threat designed to bypass common protection technologies in security software such as URL filtering, mail scanning, signatures, heuristics and emulators.

Based on the data which was analyzed, the safest Windows version seems to be Windows Vista, likely due to global Windows Vista usage* being down to about 2% making it an unattractive target for cybercriminals. Windows Vista home users have a threat risk ratio below 10% for all threats and a 1.6% risk ratio for advanced threats. The same is true for business users, where Windows Vista users have a 7% chance of encountering any kind of threat and a 1% chance of encountering advanced threats.

"Cybercriminals create threats that take advantage of the activities carried out by home users and rely on consumers being less aware of digital security," said Luis Corrons, Security Evangelist at Avast. "Conversely, businesses usually have restrictive browsing policies in place and entire IT teams dedicated to keeping networks secure. At home, without realizing it, we can engage in far more risky online activities without enjoying the same level of protection."

Infection pending for 16% of UK home computers and 9.7% of business computers

According the report, 16% of UK home computers are at risk of any type of infection, with 3.7% at risk of falling victim to an advanced attack. This is in comparison to 9.7% of the UK's business computers, with 3% at risk of infection from an advanced attack.

The top ten countries with homes most at risk of encountering any type of threat are:

1. Afghanistan (38.73%)
2. Iran (37.49%)
3. China (37.27%)
4. Ethiopia (35.7%)
5. Palestine (34.66%)
6. Egypt (34.41%)
7. Vietnam (33.37%)
8. Madagascar (32.73%)
9. Laos (32.44%)
10. Myanmar (32.17%)

The ten countries in which businesses are most at risk of countering any type of threat are:

1. Pakistan (36.15%)
2. Vietnam (35.56%)
3. China (31.59%)
4. Indonesia (29.53%)
5. South Korea (28.15%),
6. Philippines (25.90%)
7. Qatar (24.93%)
8. Venezuela (24.43%)
9. Malaysia (22.99%)
10. Peru (22.86%)

Methodology
The data included in this report represents the threats Avast protected its PC users from during the second half of 2018; specifically, these threats were blocked by Avast between August 11 and September 9, 2018. The data is collected from Avast's threat detection network. In order to provide statistically relevant data, this report includes data from countries, territories and regions with a sample size of at least 10,000 computers belonging to home users that encountered threats during the month we collected the data, and at least 1,000 computers used by businesses. The data looks at total threats and advanced threats, evaluating the risk ratio for home and business users around the world.

To calculate the risk ratios for this report, we divided the number of computers where at least one threat was stopped by one of Avast's layers of protection by the total number of computers Avast actively protected within the 30 day period.

Avast's Threat Labs Team are constantly identifying and blocking increasingly sophisticated malware attacks, most of which are designed specifically to infect Windows operating systems. 

*Source: Avast PC Trends Report 2019

About Avast
Avast (LSE: AVST) is the global leader in digital security products. With over 400 million users online, Avast offers products under the Avast and AVG brands that protect people from threats on the internet and the evolving IoT threat landscape. The company's threat detection network is among the most advanced in the world, using machine learning and artificial intelligence technologies to detect and stop threats in real time. Avast digital security products for Mobile, PC or Mac are top-ranked and certified by VB100, AV-Comparatives, AV-Test, OPSWAT, ICSA Labs, West Coast Labs and others. Visit: www.avast.com. 

CONTACT: Leonora Fleming, [email protected]

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SOURCE Avast