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China 'has most hacked computers'
February 15, 2010
China had the highest number of hacked computers used for malicious purposes than any other country in the final three months of 2009, a study has shown.
Internet security company McAfee said about 1,095,000 computers in China were infected in the final quarter of last year, more than the US total of 1,057,000.
The anti-virus firm said the latest figures were on top of the approximately 10 million infected machines each country already had. The firm collects information about online threats that target more than 100 million computers in 120 countries worldwide.
Such "zombie" computers often attack websites or send spamming emails by being grouped into networks known as "botnets", showing the vulnerability of business networks to infiltration, the Silicon Valley-based company said.
Online intruders are a growing security risk for governments and companies, indicated by Google's January announcement that its networks had been hacked by machines based in China.
Experts said the attacks were not linked to botnets, and the Chinese government said hacking was illegal and denied any involvement in Google's claims.
Copyright © Press Association 2010
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