An apparatus and method for providing real-time tracking of virus information as reported from various computers on a distributed computer network. Each client computer on the distributed network contacts an anti-virus scanning site. The site provides a small program or applet that resides in temporary memory of the client computer. The client-user invokes the scan with supplied pattern updates for detecting recent viruses. When the scan has been completed, the user is prompted to supply a country of origin. The name of the virus, its frequency of occurrence, and the country are forwarded as a virus scan log to a virus tracking server, which receives the virus information and thereafter stores it in a database server, which is used to further calculate virus trace display information. A tracking user contacts the virus tracking server and receives map information, which traces the virus activity. The maps show, according to user preference, the names of the viruses encountered in each country, and their frequencies of occurrence.