Coloradans better than most Americans at avoiding computer viruses

We might not have the best luck with the flu, but Coloradans are better than most Americans at staving off computer viruses.

The Centennial State had the fourth-best malware infection rate in the U.S. for 2017 at 59.6 percent below the national average, according to Enigma Software, publisher of the popular anti-malware app SpyHunter. Only Wisconsin, Maryland, and Indiana had better rates.

Enigma Software took the number of malware infections detected by SpyHunter in each state and divided it by the state’s population to get the malware infection rate. It’s important to note that this only includes data from computers with the app installed.

The company didn’t give an exact number of infections detected by SpyHunter but said there were millions in each state. According to the company’s daily tracker, the app detects an average of about 200,000 infections per day in the U.S., working out to about 73 million malware infections in a year.

So what states are prone to getting computer viruses? Washington saw a malware infection rate at 187.2 percent above the national average, and New Hampshire came in second at 171.9 percent above the national average. New Mexico was closest to the mean, at .37 percent below the national average, according to Enigma Software.

The company says it’s difficult to figure out why any state would have a higher infection rate than another but noted that Washington may be the worst because Seattle is a tech hub that may have a higher percentage of people using Windows computers. SpyHunter only runs on Windows.

Ransomware made headlines in 2017 when multiple viruses caused users to be locked out of their computers unless they paid money to an online account. Enigma says infections can sneak in through a variety of ways, like links in emails or as part of free software downloaded from the internet.

To see the full rank of states, click HERE.