Microsoft on Monday said that it found and removed malicious programs — called "bots" — from six out of 10 Windows computers checked during a recent 15-month period.
The disclosure, announced in a report at the Tech Ed conference in Boston, is the strongest proof yet that bots are contaminating wide swaths of the Internet. Bots infect PCs with software that allows them to be controlled by an attacker to spread spam, attack websites or steal identity data.
"We're seeing an extremely active level of activity," says Matthew Braverman, Microsoft product manager. "Most malicious software we see today affecting Windows customers is more tied to financial gain."
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