One in three home computers is infected with hacking software that steals users’ bank details, says Internet Service Provider, Earthlink.
After a survey of 420,000 PCs, Earthlink found that nearly 143,000 computers had the programmes, known as spyware, installed. Users, apparently, download the bugs inadvertently when they visit an interactive website. Particularly at risk from these bugs are those who download music from the web.
Signs of the infection include the frequent appearance of pop-up adverts and the computer being slower than normal in running programmes and processing information. Police investigating this in the United Kingdom have reportedly said they believe that Eastern European crime syndicates are responsible for the hacking scam.
