Microsoft's latest security report has shown that breaches from hacking attacks are plummeting, while lost equipment now accounts for over half of all security problems.

Lost or stolen hardware was responsible for 58 per cent of all data security breaches in the last six months of 2007.

This compares with just 13 per cent as a result of hacking, down from an average of 23 per cent for previous years.

"We all have smartphones and laptops and it is losing these that is a major problem," said Vinny Gullotto, general manager for Microsoft's Malware Protection Agency.

"If you think about what is often kept on these devices, losing it in public is a major problem."

The data comes from Microsoft users around the world and is analysed by Microsoft malware labs.

The information has allowed the company to create a threat map of the world, showing on average how many computers need to be scanned to find one piece of malware.

Japan was found to be the safest area, with over 500 computer searches per piece of malware. Spain fared worst in Europe, and the Middle East, Mexico and Brazil had the most problems with malicious code.

"Look at Japan," said Gullotto. "It is one of the most connected sites in the world but it is pretty safe over there. They are taking care of things."

One in 144 of the seven million computers scanned in the UK had unwanted malicious software, comparing favourably to one in 112 in the US and one in 123 worldwide. In Japan the figure was one in 685.

The UK is unusual in that none of the top five malware infections in the past year was a virus, but the country saw a huge spike in the number of Trojan downloaders.

This is because the Trojans are after financial data for profit, rather than kudos.