The Most Malware Ridden US Cities So Far in 2018

Atlanta, Orlando and Denver, in that order, have the dubious distinction of being the cities with the most malware infections in the first half of 2018.

According to data released by anti-malware makers EnigmaSoft, researchers have looked at infection points from their SpyHunter software throughout the United States to reveal noteworthy insights of the cities and states most vulnerable to malware attacks.

Colorado, New Hampshire and Virginia make for the top three most infected states, according to the research.

EnigmaSoft spokesperson Ryan Gerding stated:

It’s hard to say exactly why one city or state has a higher rate of infection than others. There’s a wide variety at the top of the list. Larger cities, smaller cities, and cities in every geographic area. The same is true for the least infected areas.New York and San Francisco ranked near the very bottom of the list.

Curiously, Wednesday had the most infections of any given week while Sundays had the fewest. Even cybercriminals take the weekends off, presumably.

The infections detected by EnigmaSoft range from Potentially Unwanted Programs or ‘nuisanceware’ that typically slow down computers an change some settings to ransomware, a common form of extortion that threatens victims to pay up or lose their files altogether.

“No matter what city or state you are in or what day of the week it is, it is important to always be vigilant about the threat of malware and other infections,” Gerding added.

The cities with the highest malware infection rates, ranked by percentage over the national average, are:

This article originally appeared on LIFARS.com.