Computer viruses in the first half of the year have exceeded the total number of viruses in the past five years.

On July 9, Kingsoft Antivirus (3888.HK) officially released the "2008 First Half of the Year China Computer Virus Epidemic and Internet Security Report."

The report shows that in the first half of 2008, the number of computer viruses and Trojan horses grew explosively. Kingsoft Antivirus intercepted a total of 1,242,244 new viruses and Trojans, an increase of 338% compared to the total number of viruses and Trojans in all of 2007. This total has already surpassed the combined total of viruses from the past five years.

In the first half of the year, a total of 22,367,994 computers nationwide were infected with viruses, representing a 194% increase compared to the same period in 2007. Among these, Guangdong Province alone saw 2,419,868 infected computers, accounting for 10.8% of the total number of infected machines, making it one of the hardest-hit areas for virus outbreaks.