Sophos - Troj/JSRedir-R Attacks Legitimate Websites

Malware analyst at Sophos said that the number of web pages contaminated by the malicious script Troj/JSRedir-R had significantly spurred, taking the malware to the top position on the list of Web threats.

According to the security company Sophos, it detected Troj/JSRedir-R in a whopping 42% of total Web infections recorded on May 15, 2009. The second spot seized by Mal/Iframe-F that accounted for six times lesser infections of JSRedir-R at merely 7%. The replacement of Mal/Iframe-F from the first spot to second by JSRedir-R was a surprise as it had been dominating the chart for a long time.

Sophos also said that JSRedir-R embedded itself in the legitimate but poorly designed websites from where it loaded third party's malicious programs on the users' systems without their consent. The implanted malware is used by cyber criminals to perform a host of illegitimate activities such as stealing sensitive details for financial benefits, committing identity theft and meddling with the search engine results.

Graham Cluley, Senior Technology Consultant, Sophos, said that he wasn't surprise after knowing that JSRedir-R use legitimate sites for spreading. He further added that everyone should be cleared that the Web was the prime tool for hackers to infect users' computers, as reported by ITPRO on May 15, 2009.

Cluley further commented that the many computer users believed that surfing Net didn't entail to any danger, but the legitimate sites often fell to these attacks and ended up hosting malicious content, as reported by Telegraph o May 15, 2009.

According to security experts, users should come out of the misconception that there computer will only be infected if they visit any malicious website. Now malware authors have started hosting their codes on legitimate sites to distribute malware to innocent users' computers for stealing their sensitive data.

Sophos also revealed that hackers would not stop attacking legitimate websites as they facilitated in the spreading of infections. The best way to combat the threat is scanning every website before visiting.

Security experts have advised users to update antivirus solutions on their computers in view of increasing infection around the world.

Related article: Spike in Attacks Causes Early Release of Windows Patch

» SPAMfighter News - 5/21/2009