News

Actions

Did people giving up porn for Lent lead to a drop in computer viruses?

Posted

NEW ORLEANS, La. – Malware infections have dropped 17 percent in the United States since the start of the Lenten season.

Enigma Software Group (ESG) looked at malware infections detected via SpyHunter since Lent began on February 14, after comparing those computer infections to the month leading up to Lent.

Experts at ESG think part of the decrease could be due to people reducing the time they spend on their computers during Lent.  So does this mean that more people gave up pornography for Lent?

“It’s very common for people who participate in Lenten activities to curtail usage of things like social media and technology in general in the weeks leading up to Easter,” said ESG spokesperson Ryan Gerding.   Last year malware infections dropped 14 percent during Lent.

“They may also reduce the amount of time spent on adult websites, which are common sources of malware infections.  We think the combination of those activities together help to explain why computer malware infections drop during Lent.

ESG also looked at infection trends during Lent for some of the United States cities with high Catholic populations.  In most of those cities, the drop was even larger than the national average.

Boston’s infections dropped 36 percent since the beginning of Lent.  New York’s infections dropped 31 percent since the beginning of Lent.  Pittsburgh’s infections dropped 38 percent.  Chicago’s infections dropped 23 percent.  Los Angeles’ infections dropped 23 percent.  Las Vegas’ infections dropped 21 percent.