Asia-Pacific emerges top 'malware' source

Singapore -- The Asia-Pacific region has overtaken the US as the top contributor to malicious software or 'malware' - the cyber world's biggest headache, an IT security specialist's report said Monday.

Asia also emerged second to the US in spreading unsolicited e-mails, said Sophos' Security Threat Report 2007, fuelled predominantly by China.

Countries in Asia took four out of the top 10 spots in the rankings of countries that hosted the most Web-based malware in 2006.

The breakdown in The Business Times showed the US was first on the list and played host to nearly 34.2 percent of malicious Internet programmes.

China followed at 31 percent, Taiwan at 1.7 percent, Hong Kong at 1.0 percent and South Korea at 0.9 percent. When combined, the four economies accounted for 34.6 percent.

"Web-hosting companies in the US and elsewhere need to step up their policing of published content, and ensure that malicious code is quickly removed before innocent users get hit," said Carole Theriault, Sophos senior security consultant.

More spam was sent from the US and China than any other country, the report said. The US transmitted nearly 22 percent of all unsolicited e-mails. China, including Hong Kong, was second at 15.9 percent.