The US cities with the highest malware infection rates

Computers located in Tampa, Orlando, and St. Louis are more likely than those in other US cities to be infected with malware.

This is according to a new report from ESG, the company behind the SpyHunter anti-spyware program. It compiled its results from SpyHunter detection data across the 100 largest cities in the United States in 2016.

The same three cities came top of the list of infection rates in 2015 too. In 2016 Tampa had infection rates 540 percent higher than the national average, Orlando 525 percent higher and St. Louis 520 percent higher. This could be down to a variety of things according to the company.

"There could be a number of factors including the demographics of the area, how widespread PC usage is (versus Mac or mobile devices), we've even seen weather play a role in infections from time to time," says ESG spokesperson Ryan Gerding. "The important thing is that people in these cities, and everywhere else for that matter, need to always remain vigilant against malware, spyware, and other nefarious online activity."

ESG urges consumers to protect themselves by making sure their operating system is up-to-date, using a trusted anti-spyware program, and exercising safe surfing by treating links in emails and social media with suspicion.

Top US Cities with the Highest Per Capita Malware Infection Rates in 2016

1. Tampa 540% higher than the national average
2. Orlando 525% higher than the national average
3. St. Louis 520% higher
4. Denver 407% higher
5. Atlanta 370% higher
6. Newark 322% higher
7. Madison, Wisconsin 272% higher
8. Washington, DC 242% higher
9. Cleveland 213% higher
10. Cincinnati 194% higher
11. Minneapolis 129% higher
12. Raleigh 125% higher
13. Irvine, CA 121% higher
14. Miami 109% higher
15. Buffalo 99% higher
16. Las Vegas 90% higher
17. Pittsburgh 83% higher
18. Boise 81.26% higher
19. Greensboro 67% higher
20. Seattle 61% higher
21. Boston 58% higher
22. Dallas 47% higher
23. Columbus 46% higher
24. Milwaukee 38% higher
25. Norfolk, VA 36% higher
26. Phoenix 32% higher
27. Portland 28% higher
28. Austin, TX 19% higher
29. Honolulu 19% higher
30. Baltimore 18% higher
31. Birmingham, AL 13% higher
32. Baton Rouge 11% higher
33. Sacramento 10% higher
34. Colorado Springs 7% higher
35. San Jose, CA 4% higher

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