Computers of about 72 per cent of Chinese institutions have suffered cyber attacks though the virus attack ratio has declined for the third consecutive year in the country in 2010, an official survey has found.

China's computer virus ratio declined for the third consecutive year in 2010, although viruses continue to expand rapidly among various mobile terminals, officials at the National Computer Virus Emergency Response Centre of China said.

The centre conducted a survey from November 20 to December 20, 2010 which showed China's computer virus infection ratio decreased to 60 per cent in 2010.

Zhang Jian, deputy director of the center, said the popularisation of anti-virus knowledge and the design of many viruses to focus on specific targets, such as online banks and online trading, have contributed to the decline.

The survey also revealed that about 72 per cent of the investigated bodies had suffered from cyber security incidents.

Distorted web pages, spam emails, and network theft are major threats for network users.

According to the survey, about 58 per cent of the investigated bodies have access to the Internet via mobile terminals, such as mobile phones or iPads.

The virus infection ratio of these mobile terminals reached approximately 32 per cent in 2010, Xinhua news agency reported.

More attention should be attached to the security problem of mobile terminals as more and more people choose to use mobile Internet services, Zhang said.