● 12.17.09

●● Research: Internet in Developing Countries Crippled by Microsoft Windows Zombies

Posted in Africa, America, Europe, GNU/Linux, Microsoft, Security, Windows at 8:40 pm by Dr. Roy Schestowitz

Summary: Botnets resulting from Microsoft’s poor coding (e.g. Conficker) are ruining the Internet for everyone, especially in places where the infrastructure is limited to begin with

EARLIER this month we wrote about Germany paying Microsoft “tax” no matter what operating system it uses. That “tax” is not for licences of products however; it is a “tax” that goes towards undoing the damages caused by Windows malware (such as Conficker, from which Microsoft is profiteering).

Here is some interesting new research:

The infamous Conficker worm has disproportionally affected computer systems in the developing world, according to new research.Despite high profile infection at the UK’s Ministry of Defence and a series of British hospitals, to cite just a few examples, Conficker has proportionally affected systems in Africa and south America far more. Developing nations have become “malware ghettos”, stats from Shadowserver suggest.

When hundreds of millions of Windows PCs are infected with malware, this should not be surprising. Nations like Nicaragua, Argentina [1, 2] and Brazil [1, 2] will hopefully move to Free software quickly and fully, despite Microsoft’s attack on these moves. Microsoft also works overtime to suppress Free software adoption in Africa [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]. █

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