A Microsoft report released on November 3 reveals that the nation of China is the leading target for malware on the Windows platform.

The Redmond software giant indicated that China’s fascination with interactive web apps has made them the ideal attack vector. Seemingly-innocent websites are being loaded with powerful attacks capable of stealing passwords or logging keys.

The report found that a tremendous 47% of all malware was found or targeted at users with Chinese as the local language. In comparison, just 23% of the attacks compiled in 2008 were targeted at English speakers.

It is believed that the prevalence of Chinese-language attacks is two-fold. China remains an ideal target due to the number of internet-connected users who, as of 2007, exceeded that of the US. Secondly, it is suggested that Chinese users are newer to the internet and are not as savvy as long-time users who have weathered many storms.

While it was not a topic spoken of in the report, we believe that the tremendous piracy rate in China is also a contributing factor. As in the United States, pirated copies of Windows XP cannot be updated via the Windows Update web service. Given that nine out of every ten installations of Windows XP are pirated in the PRC, this means 90% of the Windows-using population cannot receive critical fixes to prevent malware.