Nepal is the fourth most malware infection prone country in Asia Pacific region, according to a recent index compiled by Microsoft. Pakistan tops the list followed by Indonesia and Bangladesh.

In its Malware Infection Index 2016 (MII2016), which determines the key malicious software threats in the Asia-Pacific region and ranks the market based on how prone they are to the malware threats, Microsoft warned that “emerging markets most at risk of malware threats.”

The most vulnerable counties, including Nepal recorded high incidence of computer encountering malware.

“Each country had an average of close to 40 percent or more computers encountering malware, compared to the worldwide average of only 20.8 percent, as of 4Q 2015, up from 17.6 percent in 1Q 2015,” Microsoft said.

Microsoft names Gamarue malicious computer worm which is one of the top three most diagnosed malware, Skeeyah and Peals being the other two. “These malware can steal your personal information, download more malware, or give a malicious hacker access to your PC,” says the report released by Microsoft Asia News Center, a subsidiary of Microsoft corporation.

They have been observed to download and install other malware, use your computer for click fraud, steal information like usernames and browsing history and give your PC access to a remote malicious hacker, the report warned. The findings are based on data from the Microsoft Malware Protection Center (MMPC) and the Microsoft Security Intelligence Report (SIRv20).

Microsoft suggests that Asia region is vulnerable to the malware threats since more than 40 percent of computers in 19 Asia-Pacific countries are infected, with the average in the world being 20 percent.