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Virus
costs (1).
The number of home computers (PC’s)
that are used worldwide is huge, even worrying.
Currently, there are about 600 million and it is
estimated that in the year 2010, this number will exceed
1.3 billion. This number is doubled again when we
include computers in offices, institutes, companies,
armies, gangs, terrorist organizations etc.
It is not know why the most computerized citizens are
those of the tiny republic of San Marino, averaging 738
computers per 1000 people. Americans are in second place
(574 per 1000 citizens), with Scandinavian countries not
far behind and Australia in the first ten with 460 per
1000. On a world wide scale, one in every ten people
uses a computer, this figure includes countries such as
Chad and Bolivia as well as children, the elderly, the
illiterate etc.
Currently, just like all aspects of human existence,
computers and the internet are infested with horrible
diseases, for which practically there is no cure. There
are times when 70% of internet mail is made up of spam,
email viruses, Trojan
horses, worms or specific internet pediculosis. A couple
of minutes after connecting to the internet, an
unprotected computer will ‘catch’ a virus, sometimes
a very dangerous one for data or the programs being used.
It’s come to the point that an internet dependent
computer user may need two or three separate computers
just to safeguard against harm. One for work, sterile
and isolated from the outside world to which information
can only be transferred to once it has been carefully
checked. Another one that is connected to the internet
with all possible anti-viral software and safeguarded by
a ‘ghost’. If something should happen, one can start
the computer from scratch. But all of this takes time
and money, and of course nerves.
About 10% of computers are yhe avant-garde exposed to
direct threats. If we estimate that an average computer
costs approximately $500 US, already we have
unnecessarily spent $US 30 billion globally. The cost of
an average quality anti viral software programme, which
are being installed on more and more computers (probably
on over 50% of all computers) is at least $US 100. Thus
we have a huge sum, another $US 30 billion that has been
spent unnecessarily due to pests. Together, private
users of the interntet have losses that exceed $US 60
billion (not including the costs of prolonged use of
connections, phones etc). To this we must also
add the huge costs incurred by institutions, companies,
state and international organization, armies and
manufacturers.
In total, humankind looses many hundreds of billions of
dollars due to internet pests. It is interesting to
compare this figure to the budgets of countries, or
organizations, or the costs of feeding a third world
country. The building of a world class hospital from
scratch, fully equipped and the yearly running costs in
the range of $US 300 000 000. Similarly for the construction
and running of a good university.
[QZD05::033];[QNT81::043];[QRE15::108]109,117
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