NH Users Most Likely to Download Malware

Photo: Flickr/Christoph Scholz

What is wrong with NH people? Apparently, computer users in NH are three times as likely to get a malware infection on their computers compared to the rest of the country, according to research from Enigma Software Group (ESG). In fact, the infection rate in NH was 201 percent higher than the average infection rate for all 50 states. 

The ESG research team compiled their latest data based on more than 1.5 million infections detected on their SpyHunter software in all 50 states in the first six months of 2017. Colorado, Virginia, New Jersey and Oregon were the next highest states.

"It's hard to tell exactly why some states have higher infection rates than others," says ESG spokesperson Ryan Gerding. "In the top five alone, you've got east coast and west coast states, highly populated states and sparsely populated ones. Regardless of where you live, it's always important to stay vigilant for infections all the time."

Other key findings from the ESG's mid-year infection analysis include:

• Overall infections have actually dropped on a monthly basis since January 2017. In June 2017, infections in the US were down 31 percent over infections in Januar, which ESG believes is due in part to users updating to more secure versions of their Windows operating system.
• On a city by city basis, Orlando, Denver and St. Louis had the highest infection rates compared to other major cities in the U.S.
• Tennessee, Alabama and Mississippi had the lowest infection rates in the first half of 2017.

Below is the full ranking of all 50 states and how much their infection rate differed from the national average in the first six months of 2017.

1. NH, 201% higher
2. Colorado, 143% higher
3. Virginia, 80% higher
4. New Jersey, 64% higher
5. Oregon, 25% higher
6. New York, 24% higher
7. Montana, 24% higher
8. Missouri, 23% higher
9. Arizona, 18% higher
10. Maine, 17% higher
11. Wyoming, 17% higher
12. Arkansas, 17% higher
13. Wisconsin, 14% higher
14. Massachusetts, 11% higher
15. Georgia, 10% higher
16. North Dakota, 8% higher
17. Nevada, 6% higher
18. Nebraska, 5% higher
19. Rhode Island, 5% higher
20. Florida, 3% higher
21. South Dakota, 3% higher
22. Vermont, 2% higher
23. Washington, 1% lower
24. Iowa, 1% lower
25. Kansas, 2% lower
26. Ohio, 3% lower
27. Idaho, 3% lower
28. Pennsylvania, 5% lower
29. South Carolina, 5% lower
30. Illinois, 6% lower
31. Maryland, 6% lower
32. New Mexico, 7% lower
33. Texas, 9% lower
34. North Carolina, 10% lower
35. Alaska, 10% lower
36. Utah, 16% lower
37. Michigan, 18% lower
38. Kentucky, 20% lower
39. Louisiana, 20% lower
40. Oklahoma, 21% lower
41. West Virginia, 24% lower
42. Minnesota, 27% lower
43. Hawaii, 30% lower
44. California, 30% lower
45. Connecticut, 31% lower
46. Delaware, 32% lower
47. Indiana, 35% lower
48. Tennessee, 47% lower
49. Alabama, 50% lower
50. Mississippi, 53% lower