Microsoft has released its Security Intelligence Report for the first half of 2010. The observed rate of infection of the software group is in Germany fell again accordingly. In European countries, Germany ranked in Europe in the first six months of 2010 with just under 1.875 million infections in fourth place behind Spain, France and Great Britain.

The world's most affected country, according to the Microsoft study, South Korea, here were 14.6 infections per 1,000 examined computer records. Spain follow behind with 12.4 infections and Mexico with 11.4.Leaders in absolute numbers, the U.S. is registered with 2.2 million infections. Brazil follows the first by far - 550.000 infections. In Europe, Spain is 382 000 infections, the most affected.

The most widely used in Germany is part of the botnet botnet family Win32/Alureon "which about 30 percent of all known botnets. "Win32/Pushbot" and "Win32/Rimecud" with increases of 16 and eight percent, but on the rise. Significantly increased also by the distribution of "Win32/Zbot," which Microsoft attributes to the increasing attacks on banking institutions.

"The operators of botnets use the computing power of thousands of hijacked computers and allow the organized misdeed so to send e-mail spam, phishing, identity theft, click and advance fraud. Everything we can to get these networks to expand and thereby enrich financially, " said Michael Kranz, Chief Security Advisor for Microsoft Germany.