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SALT LAKE CITY — Salt Lake City is suffering from a virus, and it isn't the flu. A new report shows the city ranks in the top five metro areas in the United States for computer infections, with almost four times the infection rate of the average area.
The study comes from EnigmaSoftware.com and ranks Tampa, Orlando, St. Louis and Atlanta all ahead of Salt Lake City. But the Utah capital still manages to snag fifth place in most infected metro areas, and with about half the population of the other list-toppers.
"I think we're a very computer heavy populace in Salt Lake City," said Pete Ashdown, Utah owner of Xmission Internet.
Many viruses, he said, target the everyday computer user, hiding in personal emails and social media links.
"They'll trick you, saying, open this to get your mortgage report or FedEx word about a shipment," he said.
An email alone is not enough, Ashdown said. "You actually have to run software, and all the email is doing is displaying text, so they trick someone into running the software inside the attachment."
Ashdown said the best protection from viruses is a good virus scanner and wise judgement about what you choose to click and to download.
