Is it me or has the Internet gotten just a tiny bit safer?

I have been noticing a general trend in the type of clients I've been getting recently and the problems they are bringing their machines in for. Overall I have noticed a pretty big decline in the number of computers they had been infected with viruses or spyware.

This is definitely good news across the board. Even better, the computers that I do see that have been infected are usually not been updated automatically. This tells me that Microsoft must be doing something right.

Now I know that Microsoft has really taken a beating about security over the years. In some cases they have earned it, but sometimes I think they really have gotten a raw deal. Whatever the case it really appears that computer infections are happening less frequently.

Of course this is just my perspective. To definitively say would take some pretty serious research. Unfortunately, if the people best geared up to do that would be the folks that produce antivirus and other forms of Security Software. Since it is obviously not in their best interest to show a decline in the number of computer infections I wouldn't count on it happening anytime soon.

So just for the sake of argument let's take a closer look at it.

A noticeable reduction in the number of virus cases I am asked to repair. Outside of the possibility of an actual decrease virus infections there may be other causes. Perhaps I have a different type of clientele, or maybe people are better educated about Internet safety. It could be due to better, more comprehensive antivirus programs, or even simply due to the fact that people aren't falling for it anymore making it less profitable.

What do you think? Leave a comment in let me know…