Re: Computer viruses slow African expansion

[Drsolly <drsollyp () drsolly com>]

Grannix

On Thu, 13 Aug 2009, Juha-Matti Laurio wrote:

> "Hampered by pirated software and super-slow download times, computer users in Africa are finding PC viruses hard to 
> eradicate.
>
> Alan Mercer was at his desk in the regional capacity building bureau in Assosa, western Ethiopia, when a man burst 
> into his office, distraught.
> Right at the end of a four-year master's degree programme, he had lost the only copy of his thesis to a computer 
> virus.
> Mercer, an IT trainer with Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO), wasn't surprised. "Show me an Ethiopian computer without 
> a virus and I'd ask which foreigner it belongs to," he says.
>
> While western countries have partially learned to neutralise the threat of computer viruses, Africa has become a hive 
> of trojans, worms and exploiters of all stripes.
> As PC use on the continent has spread in the past decade (in Ethiopia it has gone from 0.01% of the Ethiopian 
> population to 0.45% through 1999-2008),
> viruses have hitched a ride, wreaking havoc on development efforts, government programmes and fledgling businesses."
> --clip--
>
> And more sad facts follow:
> ""PCs that were bought with limited funds or donated sit collecting dust in the corner of the room because they have 
> been devastated by viruses,"
> says André Mohamed, an IT professional in Ethiopia. "It's a major reduction in productivity and efficiency.""
>
> More at
> http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2009/aug/12/ethiopia-computer-virus
>
> Juha-Matti
>
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