The global study surveyed 1,700 consumers, IT workers, CIOs and government officials in India, Brazil, China, France, Germany, Indonesia, Japan, Mexico, Poland, Russia, Singapore, Ukraine, the UK, and the US. The NUS forensics analysed 203 new PCs loaded with pirated software and found that a staggering 61 per cent of these PCs were pre-infected with unsafe malware, including Trojans, worms, viruses, hacktools, rootkits and adware. These computers were acquired in Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Russia, South Korea, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine, and the US.
"It is hugely concerning that brand new PCs are coming pre-infected with dangerous malware due to pirated software, making the users and companies readily vulnerable to security breaches," NUS Professor Biplab Sikdar said. Whether an individual user, a small business, enterprise or even a government institution, all is encouraged to buy new computers from reputable sources to ensure they receive genuine software, he added.
