A method for collecting and distributing data on computer viruses
identified on a plurality of computers during virus scanning includes
receiving virus scan results from the plurality of computers and
collecting and storing the virus scan results in a database. The results
include the type of virus identified. The method further includes
aggregating at scheduled intervals the virus scan results over a
specified time period at a publisher server to create a virus database
and replicating the virus database to a subscriber server. A virus report
is created from the virus database upon receiving a request from a user
computer at the subscriber server and sent to the user computer.