Keeping malware away - how do some countries do it?

Tim Rains over at Trustworthy Computing (TwC) has just concluded a six-part series in which he took a closer look at the threat landscape in locations that have the lowest infection rates in the world. Using data from our Security Intelligence Report, the series investigates why the same countries and regions consistently pop up as having relatively low malware infection rates, as normalized using a metric calledComputers Cleaned per Mille (CCM).

The series is available in the following articles:

• Lessons from Some of the Least Malware Infected Countries in the World – Part 1
• Austria - Lessons from Some of the Least Malware Infected Countries in the World – Part 2
• Finland - Lessons from Some of the Least Malware Infected Countries in the World – Part 3
• Germany - Lessons from Some of the Least Malware Infected Countries in the World – Part 4
• Japan - Lessons from Some of the Least Malware Infected Countries in the World – Part 5
• Finale - Lessons from Some of the Least Malware Infected Countries in the World – Part 6

What was commonly found in these locations that have low malware infection rates includes the following:

1. A strong relationship between public and private entities that led to efficient and proactive responses to malware threats
2. The presence of CERTs, ISPs, and other entities that monitor malware that enable rapid response
3. An intelligent and well-trained IT culture where system administrators are able to sufficiently respond to threats
4. The establishment of policies and processes to quarantine infected computers and prevent malware from spreading across networks
5. Education campaigns and media participation that raise awareness of security issues
6. Low software piracy rates and timely and widespread use of Windows Update and Microsoft Update

A big thank you to Tim and the TwC, who collated all this information to help us understand what certain countries and regions are doing right regarding keeping malware away. We strongly encourage users to employ the best practices found in the countries that have these low malware infection rates.

- MMPC

Weblink:

http://blogs.technet.com/b/mmpc/archive/2011/08/25/keeping-malware-away-how-do-some-countries-do-it.aspx