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July 31, 2008
Report: U.S. Tops Malware Hosting List
By Raju Shanbhag, TMCnet Contributor
Reporting that U.S. hosts 42 percent of the world's Web malware, ScanSafe (News - Alert), a provider of SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) Web Security issued data on the top three countries hosting Web-based malware including viruses, Trojans, root kits, password stealers and other malicious programs. China ranked second on the list and Germany ranked third.
The report states that large number of the malware hosts in last month were part of the Asprox fast flux bot network—PCs. These PCs have been enlisted into the bot network and mask the true origin of the actual host, states the report.
The report states that US is in the top of the medal tally, as the country hosts 42 percent of the malware. China is in second place with 12 percent and Germany is in third place with 5 percent. Funnily enough, as the Beijing 2008 Olympics is approaching, this medal tally for hosting malwares mirrors the real medals table with the US finishing top of the table at the last 3 Olympics!
In the first half of 2008, Web-based malware has already increased by a staggering 278%. Malware is no longer confined only to a ‘fishy’ web site. More and more legitimate sites are being targeted by attackers and websites. As the Olympics approaches, the report estimates that the popular web sites that stream the games online could be a prime area for compromise.
For companies under risk, taking a close look at their acceptable Internet usage policies ahead of the event and planning for increased requests for Olympic-related sites is an option. They can also ensure that all Web security measures are extended to users who may use corporate issued PCs at home or while traveling to keep abreast of Olympic developments.
For users, they can use Scandoo (www.scandoo.com), is ScanSafe’s free service that provides advanced warning for sites that contain malware or unwanted content in search results. Following the rules set by the security and being aware of the suspicious sites can also be a good measure to stop the spread of malware.
“We can expect to see an increase in Olympics-themed spam, blog comments, and forum posts that try to entice potential victims into visiting malicious websites under the auspices of viewing video or other content related to the games,” Mary Landesman, senior security researcher, ScanSafe comments. “Potentially, there may also be an increase in the compromise of legitimate websites that feature Olympics-related content, in order to exploit the heightened traffic that may result.”
Raju Shanbhag is a contributing editor for TMCnet. To read more of Raju’s articles, please visit his columnist page.
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