Microsoft Windows is by far the most widely used operating system in the world and as such it is also a favourite of many hackers.
Last year 99 per cent of all malicious software was intended for computers running Windows. German anti-virus software maker G Data, which concentrates in this area, says online criminals operate from an economic standpoint and continually go after the largest target, in this case Windows.
Virus experts at the company last year documented more than 1.5 million new malicious software programmes. Data G points out that the number of viruses, Trojan horse programmes, worms and other malware detected in a given week last year was about the same as the number detected in all of 2004.
