Azerbaijan, Baku, Sept. 1 / Trend H.Valiyev /
Research by the AVG Company does not reflect the real situation of information security in different countries and indicates the low penetration of AVG products because consumers are also working with software from other anti-virus producers, the Azerbaijani Communications and IT Ministry said.
The ministry sharply criticized a recent report by AVG which indicates that Azerbaijan ranks fourth in the list of countries most affected by web attacks.
According to AVG, every 39th Internet user in Azerbaijan is the victim of Internet attacks. AVG used data on more than 100 million computers in 144 countries to form a rating.
Russia leads the list of the most unsafe countries, where every 10th user is the victim of malicious attacks, according to the rating. In Turkey every 15th user is vulnerable while in Armenia every 24th user suffers from the problem, the AVG report claims.
The ministry said that the report is controversial as seven African countries were in the top ten safest countries, ahead of Europe, North America and East Asia.
The report said that every 262nd user was subjected to virus attacks in Zambia, whereas in the U.S. one user out of 48 becomes victim of an attack. But this does not mean that the U.S. pays less attention to information security than Zambia, the ministry said.
In the list of most vulnerable countries the U.S. ranks the ninth, where one user out of 48 becomes victim of an attack. The UK ranks 30th (one of 63), Australia 36th (one of 75), China 79th (one of 135), Brazil 98th (one of 155), and the Czech Republic ranks 118th with one user out of 183 vulnerable.
The ministry considers it unreasonable to draw conclusions based on the analysis provided by AVG when it declares that African countries fare better in the field of information security than the U.S.
Susceptibility to virus attacks can be caused by many factors, the ministry said. Low Internet penetration, the activity of users, the scope of their interests and compliance with the rules of network security all play a part, the ministry said.
Nevertheless, the agency believes that AVG's report may be viewed as a serious document from the viewpoint of preventing the large number of viruses on the Internet, and the importance of equipping computers with antivirus software.
Based on international experience, the ministry has proposed building a national structure to educate society in the information security field and, if necessary, the provision of practical assistance.
This proposal does not mean interfering in the personal computers of citizens and other illegal activities. At present, Azerbaijan has already created local structures to ensure information security of existing scientific and educational networks in the country. Taking into account Azerbaijan's accession to the European Convention on Cyber Crime, these measures are necessary.