Europe PCs most used in attacks

European computers are the most susceptible to exploitation by hackers looking to carry out distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks on internet businesses, according to two reports released last week.

Analysis by DDoS mitigation firm Prolexic shows that 24 per cent of compromised computers used to launch attacks on web servers for blackmail purposes originate from Europe, compared with 18 per cent from the US and 11 per cent from China.

Home PC users accessing the internet through ISPs AOL, Deutsche Telekom and Wanadoo are most often affected by malicious code used by hackers to remotely control PCs when launching attacks and distributing spam, says Prolexic.

'Networks of about 10,000 zombie computers can deliver quite a punch when they hit a web site and networks of 80,000 PCs are becoming more common,' said Barrett Lyon, chief technology officer at Prolexic.

Separate research by IT security firm CipherTrust found that last month more than 172,000 PCs around the world were infected each day, as extortion gangs used poorly-secured machines of unknowing home internet users to launch attacks.

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