Assessing Trends and Correlates of Malware Infection Victimization at the Macro-Level

Malicious software, or malware, infections are a common problem for computer users across the globe. Viruses, trojans, and botnet programs enable cybercriminals to acquire sensitive data and gain control over systems through surreptitious means that may not be easily identified by the common person. In addition, attackers have begun to utilize malware that attacks the web browser on a users' computer to increase the successful spread of an attack campaign. Few criminologists have examined the prevalence of this problem, or the prospective correlates for infections at the macro-level. This study will explore trends in malware infections across the globe using open source data, and consider the sociological, economic, political, and technological factors associated with infection rates.