India may have low penetration of computers, but it is ahead of countries like US, Japan and Singapore when it comes to basic PC protection, says a report by security software maker McAfee.

It conducted a global study across 24 nations, analysing data from voluntary scans of an average of 27-28 million PCs per month to determine a global estimate of the number of consumers who have basic security software installed.

Finland had the highest number of 90.3 per cent PCs with a basic security software solution in place, followed by Italy (86.2 per cent) and Germany (85.55 per cent).

Basic security protection is defined as working anti- virus, anti-spyware and firewall technologies.

India ranked 14th on the list with 82.67 per cent, while China ranked 17th (82 per cent), followed by Japan and US at the 19th spot (80.65 per cent) and Singapore at 22nd position (78.25 per cent). The global average stood at 83 per cent.

According to estimates, India had a total installed base of over 60 million PCs at the end of 2011.

"Its gratifying to see that the majority of consumers have gotten the message that at the very least they need to have basic security protection installed," McAfee Co-President Todd Gebhart said.

"Protecting digital devices against cybercrime from malware not only benefits each of us personally, but also serves to discourage illicit activity and preserve the integrity of the Internet," he added.

Cases of cyber-attacks against banks, technology firms, e-stores and government agencies are on the rise and have cost millions of dollars worth of losses, McAfee said.

However, 17 per cent of the PCs scanned either had no anti-virus installed or the software was installed, but disabled.

Spain (16.3 per cent) topped the list of countries where the PCs scanned did not have a security solution in place, followed by Japan (13.2 per cent) and China (12.9 per cent).

About 10.9 per cent of the PCs scanned in India did not have a security solution, placing India at the 8th spot.

The study suggests often people do not understand that once the trial subscription expires (which came pre-installed with the PC), they are no longer protected.

Some consumers may disable their security protection on purpose, for example to play online games, while some PC users believe they do not need protection if they simply adhere to safe surfing best practices, it added.

"Security software is consumers' first and, in many cases, only defence against cybercrime," the study said.