A report published by Microsoft tells us that, in comparison to the second half of 2007, the amount of malware has increased as much as forty-three percent! Malware, a portmanteau word from the words MALicious and softWARE, is software designed to intrude or damage a computer system without the actual permission of the owner.

The statistics are based on results of Windows Update. Windows Update checks whether the PC of the user is infected with malware. The statistics are saved every month, available for users to read in the Security Intelligence Report.

Because the statistics were gathered through Windows Update, these statistics are only valid for users using an operating system manufactured by Microsoft. As much as hundreds of computers have been scanned by Windows Update. In the first half of 2008 about sixty-two million infections were found on twenty-three million computers. This is a rise of forty-three percent compared to the second half of 2007. Back then, forty-two million infections were found on fifteen million computers.