Is your city a “Hot Zone” for computer infection?

PC Tools ranks the top 100 cities for prevented computer infections and gives free software to the most-targeted cities to help prevent the problem

San Francisco, September 30, 2008: Leading security software vendor, PC Tools, today announced its list of “Hot Zones”, the American cities with the highest identified outbreaks of computer viruses, Trojans, adware, spyware and malware as determined by its ThreatFire community.  To help protect the top five most targeted cities, PC Tools is donating 20,000 units of software to local charities.   

As expected New York City topped the list, however interestingly Houston was second, followed by Los Angeles, Chicago, and Miami.  Conversely, Tallahassee, Florida was ranked last with the least number of outbreaks, followed by East Lansing, Michigan, Columbus, Georgia, Rockford, Illinois, and Lincoln, Nebraska.

PC Tools compiled the rankings of most targeted cities from members of our global ThreatFire community with approximately 450,000 members in the United States. Analysis of the data identifies that the most prevalent type of threats our ThreatFire users are seeing is adware, followed by Trojans. 

“An attempted attack on a member of the ThreatFire community is immediately blocked and removed by our behavioral based anti-malware software, ThreatFire.  Minutes after an attempted attack, we obtain detailed analysis on the threat via ThreatExpert, our advanced automated threat analysis system” said Kurt Baumgartner, ThreatFire’s Chief Threat Officer based in Boulder, Colorado.  

"For the purpose of the product giveaway PC Tools were able to approximate the most prevalent attack locations using our geo-location database” said Baumgartner.

"It was these locations that were deemed the best beneficiaries of the software" said Davide De Vellis, PC Tools Vice President of Sales & Marketing

“Most people want to know how they can identify whether they are being attacked,” said Baumgartner.  “It is one of the biggest issues security vendors face today – educating Internet users about how to identify an infected system.” 

PC Tools said that while evidence of a computer infection may include poor performance or a system slow down, many internet attacks today use sophisticated techniques that ensure they are invisible to the user. The reality is, sometimes users cannot even tell if they are infected.
 
“The use of sophisticated techniques allows a hacker to spy on your online activity, potentially stealing valuable information, like your credit card number or other account information that could be used in identity or financial fraud,” said Baumgartner. 

 “PC Tools is delighted to be involved in an initiative that can only help improve cyber safety in the cities most targeted by internet hackers and provide protection to less-privileged families, schools and organizations in those cities,” said De Vellis. “It’s also a great opportunity to increase awareness about computer security among the wider public.”

Each of the top five cities will receive a range of security and computer performance optimization software that includes leading and award-winning Spyware Doctor and Registry Mechanic, along with Internet Security and Desktop Maestro.

The selected charities include:

• Per Scholas, which recycles computers to empower children and help adults build living-wage careers in the New York area. The organization has a second branch in Miami, which will receive a donation as well.

• The United Way of Greater Houston, which focuses on strengthening its community by developing children and youth to their full potential.

• L.A. SHARES, which takes donations from the local business community and redistributes these items free of charge to non-profits and schools throughout Los Angeles County.

• The Chicago Department of Children and Youth, which administers federal, state and city funds to more than 300 organizations that provide programs for young people from infancy to age 18.

Kevin Wollin, director of the Gifts in Kind program for United Way of Greater Houston was pleased with the donation, saying, “I would like to thank PC Tools for this wonderful software donation.  This much needed software will be distributed to over 350 nonprofits in our community.”

NOTE TO EDITOR

PC Tools compiled its Hot Zone data based on input from its ThreatFire community from January 1, 2008 to June 30, 2008.  The ThreatFire community includes 1,734,712 machines around the world and 450,408 within the United States.

ABOUT PC TOOLS

PC Tools is a global software leader with a cache of security and utility products, including the multi award-winning Spyware Doctor®. PC Tools is an industry leader in real-time anti-spyware and has a number of key patents pending.  The PC Tools Malware Research Center monitors trends and emerging spyware issues and provides security solutions for the consumer and enterprise marketplace.

The company is headquartered in Sydney, with offices in San Francisco, London, Shannon (Ireland), Melbourne, Kiev, and Boulder. PC Tools has a global network of distributors, resellers, and retailers.