New Delhi: A recent study has divulged a stunning fact that one in every 28 e-mails received by Indians is infected i.e. carrying virus that makes their computers highly vulnerable to virus attcks.

The study by the messaging security and management services provider, MessageLabs has articulated that the number of malicious websites is growing fast. StormWorm, a new virus, which uses virtual postcards and YouTube video for its attack, is increasingly attacking computers, and StormWorm has infected over 1.8 million computers worldwide.

According to the study, In August, 2007, the computers of the Internet using Indians were the most vulnerable to the virus attacks, with one in every 27.8 e-mails having been infected. However, spam attacks (or unsolicited bulk e-mails), accounted for only 29.5 per cent of the total e-mails received, says the study.

The study has also revealed that there was a rise in e-mails containing links to virtual postcards and YouTube video invites. On August 15, there was a significant outburst of new malicious websites comprising 600,000 e-mails, which were distributed in just 24 hours.

As a result of this latest StormWorm activity, the number of e-mails which contained links to malicious code increased to 19.5 per cent in August, a rise of 19 per cent from the July figure of just 0.5 per cent.

The study has exposed the steep rise in the number of new malicious websites appearing every day. In August, a daily average of 1,772 such new sites were identified and blocked, an average increase of 783 a day since July.