When it comes to active malware infection, as many as 18.5percent of a company's computers are actively communicating withcriminals, according to Damballa's “State of Infections” report.

No firm is exempt, as this occurs across both largeand small enterprises, the study found. Company policies, more thancompany size, determine the “cleanliness” of any given network.

“We recommend that security teams work under the assumption thatprevention is not fail proof, so the ability to automaticallydetect and accelerate the time to response is essential tominimizing risk,” says Brian Foster, CTO of Damballa, a firm thatdetects active threats and provides cyber protection andcontainment.