Over the past several years I have had the opportunity to talk to customers and governments all over the world about the threat landscape and the data we publish in the Microsoft Security Intelligence Report (SIR). During these conversations regional malware infection rates always garner a lot of discussion...

In the first three parts of this series on the threat landscape in Asia and Oceania I examined threats in Vietnam and India (highest malware infection rates in the region), Japan and Korea (very interesting juxtaposition), and Malaysia and Singapore (malware infection rates trending lower). This final...

In part 1 and part 2 of this series on the threat landscape in Asia and Oceania I focused on Vietnam, India, Korea and Japan. In this third part of the series, I’m focusing on Malaysia and Singapore. I have visited both of these countries in the past to discuss threats in these locations with...

In part 1 of this series on the threat landscape in Asia and Oceania I focused on Vietnam and India – the two locations with the highest malware infection rates in the region. In this part of the series, I’m focusing on Korea and Japan. Historically Korea has had one of the most active threat...

Recently I wrote about the threat landscape in the European Union ( part 1 , 2 , 3 ) and Africa . This series of articles is focused on threats in select locations in Asia (Vietnam, India, Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, and Japan) and Oceania (Australia and New Zealand). I am focusing on these locations...

It’s been almost a year since I wrote about the threat landscape in Africa based on data published in the Microsoft Security Intelligence Report volume 10 ( SIRv10 ). Using the latest data published in the Microsoft Security Intelligence Report volume 12 (SIRv12), we took a fresh look at how the...

Recently I wrote a three part series of articles ( part 1 , part 2 , part 3 ) on the evolving threat landscape in the European Union. As I wrote in these articles, there has been a steep rise in the malware infection rates in some European countries that typically have some of the lowest malware infection...

According to data we recently published in the Microsoft Security Intelligence Report volume 12 (SIRv12), drive-by download attacks continue to be a favorite tactic used by many attackers attempting to compromise large numbers of systems around the world. I have written about drive-by download attacks...

In the first two parts ( part 1 , part 2 ) of this three part series I focused on the locations in the European Union (EU) that had the highest malware infection rates and/or saw the highest increases in malware infection rates in the second half of 2011. In this final installment of the series I focus...

In part 1 of this series on the threat landscape in the European Union in the second half of 2011, I examined the threats in the location with the highest malware infection rate, Romania. In this segment of the series I will examine what is happening in the EU member states that have seen the biggest...

Recently I spoke at the Microsoft EU Cybersecurity & Digital Crimes Forum 2012 in Brussels. I provided an in-depth briefing on some of the significant shifts in threat landscape in the EU during the second half of 2011. I will be sharing some of the key findings of this analysis in a short series...

In The Evolution of Malware and the Threat Landscape , the Special Edition Security Intelligence Report that we released at RSA and other Security Intelligence Reports (SIR), my starting primary source is the National Vulnerability Database ( http://nvd.nist.gov ) that is maintained by the National Institute...

[NOTE: The time was originally listed as 10:30am, but it starts at 11:00am] Tim Rains and I will be presenting in a live webcast this morning ( 5/23 @11:00am PST ) on the topic “ Code Red to Zbot: 10 Years of Tech, Researchers and Threat Evolution .” The session was presented at the RSA USA 2012 Conference...

Since releasing the new Microsoft Security Intelligence Report Volume 12 (SIRv12) a few weeks ago, one of the top questions I have been asked is about the new malware infection rate data for Windows operating systems. Figure 1: Infection rate (CCM) by operating system and service pack in the fourth...

Scareware, also known as fake anti-virus software, has become one of the most common methods computer hackers use to swindle your money. If you have had a security alert icon pop up on your computer, you may have been the victim of scareware. In a recent TV interview , I discuss how scareware programs...

Today we released the latest volume of the Microsoft Security Intelligence Report (SIR) containing a large body of new data and analysis on the threat landscape. This volume of the SIR includes: Latest industry vulnerability disclosure trends and analysis Latest data and analysis of global vulnerability...

This post continue my analysis of industry vulnerability disclosures started in part 4 last week and is part of an ongoing series of posts based upon Tim Rains and my recent special edition Microsoft Security Intelligence Report (SIR) called “ The evolution of malware and the threat landscape – a ten...

In the first three parts of this series ( part 1 , part 2 , part 3 ), Tim Rains explored some of the ways that the threat landscape (with a focus on malware) has evolved over the past decade and introduced a new special edition Microsoft Security Intelligence Report (SIR) called “ The evolution of malware...

In the first two parts of this series ( part 1 , part 2 ) I explored some of the ways that the threat landscape has evolved over the past decade and introduced a new special edition Microsoft Security Intelligence Report (SIR) called “ The evolution of malware and the threat landscape – a...

In part 1 of this series I started comparing what the threat landscape looked like at the turn of the century to what it looks like today. Continuing that theme, today we have released a new special edition Microsoft Security Intelligence Report (SIR) called “ The evolution of malware and the threat...

When I compare what the threat landscape looked like at the turn of the century to what it looks like today it’s clear that things have changed. At the height of the dot-com boom, less than a third of homes in North America and Europe had Internet access [1] , with broadband technologies accounting for...

Many customers I have talked to who have operations in Mexico have asked for insight into the threat landscape there. The threat landscape in Mexico has been quite active and in this article I try to provide some insight into what has been happening there based on data from the Microsoft Security Intelligence...

Phishing is a method of credential theft that tricks Internet users into revealing sensitive information, such as personal or financial information, online. Phishers use phony websites or deceptive email messages that mimic trusted businesses and brands to steal sensitive information, such as user names...

The threat landscape in India has turned out to be more active than initially suspected. India has had a relatively low malware infection rate for some time, which seemed subdued for a region that has such a large high tech industry. But with the new data we recently released in the latest Microsoft...

In a recent post, called The Curious Case of Qatar , I discuss how Qatar has the highest regional infection rate that we have ever reported. Prior to this the Republic of Korea had the highest malware infection rate in the world; back in July of this year I wrote about how the threat landscape in Korea...