New | China now the largest source of internet threats thanks to rise of zombie computers

China has edged out the United States as the world’s prime source of internet-related security threats, according to a report by cyber security software provider Symantec Corp.

More than 23 per cent of global threat incidents came from the mainland last year, up from around 10 per cent the year before, said its Internet Security Threat Report released this week.

The sharp growth of zombie computers, systems taken control by hackers, spurred the overall increase, the company said.

Theses zombie computers in China launch cyber attacks without the owners knowing, but the criminals behind them are hard to track down and can be from anywhere in the world, the company said.

The number of bots, or malicious software resulting in zombie computers increased more than 80 per cent last year and China accounted for almost half of the world’s bots, Symantec found.

It believes the rapidly expanding broadband internet and the relatively low internet prices have increased the number of internet-connected computers greatly and made China an “attractive target” for cybercriminals looking for computers to hack.

The increase indicates China’s lack of strength and awareness in dealing with the increasing internet threats from around the world, said an executive.