The rate of computer virus infection in corporate America has nearly tripled in the past year, the study found, despite the fact that the use of anti-virus software has grown from 60 percent of the machines surveyed by NCSA in 1996 to 73 percent in 1997.
Electronic mail is now one of the leading methods of virus transmission.
Based on the information, NCSA predicted that approximately 40 percent of all computers used in the surveyed companies would experience a virus infection within a year. Macro viruses carried in common word processing documents and spreadsheets were the biggest problem, representing 80 percent of all infections. Comparing these figures to the 49 percent rate a year ago, the NCSA study indicated the instances of macro virus infection had doubled about every four months over the past year. The number one virus encountered was the WordConcept, which caused almost half of all infections reported. The Wazzu virus, another macro virus that infects Word documents, was responsible for about one-fifth of all infections.