9 out of 10 PCs infected with Spyware

The percentage of consumers' computers carrying some sort of spyware or adware jumped slightly in the second quarter, anti-spyware tools vendor Webroot Software reported Tuesday, and sent the overall infection rate to levels not seen since 2004.

In the second quarter of 2006, 89 percent of consumer PCs were infected with an average of 30 pieces of spyware/adware, a small jump over Q1 and the highest mark since the final three months of 2004, Webroot spelled out in its quarterly "State of Spyware" report.