Panda Security, the Cloud Security Company, announced its worldwide barometer on the status of security at small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs). According to the study, which surveyed 5,760 companies worldwide, 44 percent of the more than 1,400 US respondents have recently been infected by Internet threats. Worldwide, 58 percent were affected, with Brazil showing the highest infection rate at 86 percent. Only 8 percent of SMBs in Germany reported infections.

US SMBs cited that, of any threat, viruses affected their companies the most, at 41 percent, and they ranked spyware second, at 26 percent. Worldwide, viruses also ranked first, with 55 percent of respondents naming them the most potent threat to their businesses. Ten percent of SMBs in the US were affected to the point of having to stop production, with a worldwide average of 30 percent.

While 97 percent of US SMBs surveyed have installed antivirus and 95 percent claim their security systems are up to date, many SMBs still lack common security protection. Twenty-nine percent of respondents disclosed they have no antispam in place, 22 percent no antispyware and 16 percent no firewall. In addition, 52 percent of SMBs said they lacked any Web filtering solution. Of those US SMBs without any security systems in place, 27 percent cited they have not implemented them because they aren't important or necessary, and 20 percent because they are expensive.

"Despite strong efforts in the US to educate businesses about the importance of computer security, a staggering number of small and medium-sized businesses have become victims of cybercrime," said Luis Corrons, PandaLabs Technical Director. "It is especially alarming to see so many businesses fail to adopt the most basic security measures, such as anti-spam and firewall solutions."