A new report by security researchers has revealed that Spain is currently the country with the most infected computers. A whopping 44.5% of all computers in that country are infected with malware and part of a botnet.  The United States is a distant second with 14.4%.  The countries with the least infections are Peru, Sweden, and The Netherlands, all who have an infection rate of less than 1%.

The report also found that malware and botnets have increased by 30%. While social  networks like Facebook and Twitter have been especially hard hit, email is still popular with spammers and scammers. Over 94% of all emails sent are spam. Pharmaceutical spam is the most prevalent, followed by porn, male enhancement and fake designer goods. Brand abuse is also rising, with everything from the AARP to the Hollywood Reporter finding themselves exploited by spammers. One such brand, UPS, is being used  in spam messages spreading the Bredolab Trojan and the sending of those messages has been rising sharply.

Bredolab has been very active in helping to increase the Cutwail botnet, which was briefly derailed when Pricewert, the rogue ISP hosting it, was shut down. As expected it quickly found a new home and bounced back to life. Security experts expect spam and malware levels to continue to increase throughout the holiday season.