One-in-14 software downloads malicious, Microsoft warns

Microsoft warned that hackers use mind tricks more often than software skills to get viruses into computers.

Feedback from globally popular Internet Explorer (IE) web browser indicated that one of every 14 programmes downloaded turned out to be malicious code, according to the US software titan.

“Social-engineering attacks, like tricking a user into running a malicious programme, are far more common than attacks on security vulnerabilities,” Micrsoft Smart-Screen programme manager Jeb Haber said in a blog post.

SmartScreen technology has blocked more than 1.5 billion attempts to slip “malware” into computers since version IE8 was released in March 2009, according to Microsoft.

“User-downloaded malware is a huge problem and getting bigger,” Mr Haber said.

Microsoft’s latest version of the browser, IE9, checks reputations of websites and their creators to let internet users know when they are dealing with unknown characters online. “Most people would be cautious about buying something online from a complete stranger,” Mr Haber said.