Tech company outlines the safest and riskiest places to surf the Web

PRN - GHN News Editor -  One of the big worries in surfing the Web is being attacked by a virus
or malware of some kind, but where would the surfer be safest and where
would the worst problems be found?

  It turns out according to the Internet Security company AVG,

it's the Caucasus region, with web surfers in Turkey, Russia, Armenia
and Azerbaijan who are targeted with online threats the most.


AVG spokesperson, Roger Thomson, "Our research tells us a lot about the
behaviour of web surfers worldwide. Internet users in Turkey, Russia,
the Caucasus and South-east Asia for example show disproportionately
higher rates of being attacked than the global average of 1 in 73.


The Japanese are technologically near the top in wanting and having the
latest gadgets, but it turns out the safest surfing is actually in
Japan.  That's also true of Taiwan where the computer craze is on.
Seven of the 10 safest countries are in Africa.


South America is the safest continent for web surfing.  North American is the riskiest.


What's an individual's risk globally in being hit with a virus?
Computer experts tell us your chances of being attacked while online on
any given day are 1 in 73.


The data to make these determinations involved 144 countries,  over 100 million PCs,  that enabled AVG
to look at the incidence of security threats that its software had to
deal with in the last week of July.   It was using these figures the
company was able to make the determination about user attacks on a
country-wide or continent-wide basis.


AVG's results for the last week of July 2010 are as follows:


Turkey is at the front of the line for risk Web browsing with 1 in 15
users being hit in Russia, 1 in 25 in Armenia and 1 in 39 in Azerbaijan.


In the Western countries, the U.S. ranks at number nine, with the UK at
30th, Australia at 36th and German surfers at 83rd place.


Sierra Leone and Niger had the fewest attacks, however because of its
high internet use and broadband penetration Japan, where there is an
average of just one in 404 facing an attack, is really the safest place
to surf the net.


Why are is there such a disproportionate risk in Eastern Europe?
Thomson tells us,   "There are a number of reasons for this. Some of it
may be down to a tendency to access semi-legal or illegal download
sites, while some of it probably is down to being less cautious when it
comes to sharing links and files online. Another factor is the
popularity of Internet cafes and people generally sharing computers.
However, it is safe to say that even in these countries, a minority of
users account for a large proportion of attacks."


"Our research should also serve as a wake-up call to people going
abroad. If you are travelling without your computer and use a public
machine or borrow a friend or colleagues, ensure that when accessing web
-based services like email, that you log out and close the browser when
you have finished your session."


"If you are taking your laptop with you ensure you have backed up your
data and removed any sensitive information from your machine."