The Big Brother aspect stems from the fact that the analysis is based on data polled from the millions of Windows users around the world which, of course, is collated on a totally anonymous basis.
The latest study covers the second half of 2008 and reveals a growing threat from fake security software, also known as `scareware,' which seeks to extract revenue from people subscribing to the bogus software.
According to Microsoft, various families of scareware - such as Win32/FakeXPA, Win32/FakeSecSen and Win32/Renos - have moved the category of scareware into Microsoft's top ten threats in the second half of 2008.
"We continue to see an increase in the number of threats and complexity of those threats designed to implement crime at a variety of levels online," says Vinny Gullotto, general manager of the Microsoft malware protection centre.
"But as Microsoft and the industry continue to improve the security of our products and people become more concerned about their online safety and privacy, we see cybercriminals increasingly going after vulnerabilities in human nature rather than software."
Delving into the report reveals two `rogue families' of scareware were detected in 1.5 million PCs. And another form of scareware was found on 4.4 million computers, a rise of 66% from the previous six-month period.
Put simply, says Microsoft, this means when users downloaded the software they probably gave away their payment card numbers and got infected in a double hit scenario.
The security intelligence report also found that, as software companies have improved the security of their operating systems, attackers have shifted their focus to the application layer, where the majority of vulnerabilities are now being reported.
Interestingly, Infosecurity notes, nearly 90% of vulnerabilities disclosed in the second half of 2008 affected applications software.
The survey also showed that lost and stolen equipment - not computer hacking - continues to be the most common cause of security breaches resulting in data losses publicly reported in the second half of 2008, which totalled 50% of reported incidents.
To mitigate this threat, the software giant that Bill Gates help found says that organisations must implement strong data governance practices to help protect data from criminal access.
A full list of Microsoft's guidance, a downloadable version of the Security Intelligence Report, volume 6, and other related information is available at http://www.microsoft.com/sir.