Authorized Websites Greatest Chanced towards Delivering Malware, finds Cisco

A Cisco Systems ASR for 2013 shows that booby-trapped authorized websites distribute malicious software more compared to malevolent ones.

They aren't so much of malevolent websites where the most efficacious snares are set to compromise Internauts rather they're the websites, which visitors apprehend the least as also those they repose the greatest faith in.

The annual report tells that Cisco's researchers determined search engines as being 27 times and Internet shopping portals as being 21 times more chanced to serve malware over fake software sites. Similarly, Internet ad sites bear 182 times more chances for serving malware over porn sites.

Senior Security Researcher, Mary Landesman from Cisco states that cyber-criminals require the least to pull Web-surfers towards malevolent sites. For, the Web strongly helps in malware distribution while Cisco study's assessment determined that most of such malware gets disseminated via familiar, established, authentic sites. It further discovered that malware distribution likely occurs via hijacking legitimate websites, else through intermediate source's advertising alternatively, material suppliers of other types for infecting the authentic websites, Landesman explains. Eweek.com published this dated February 1, 2013.

Moreover, malevolent scripts comprising assaults through iFrames are behind 83% of assaults, and for nearly 10% of assaults, exploits serve malicious software. This is followed with information-capturing malware, installers, computer worms and finally PC-viruses, according to Cisco.

Additionally, mainstream websites loaded with dynamic content account for 18.3% of all 'malware-serving techniques' that malicious software exploits. Next is Internet grouped advertising, then industry and business sites, gaming websites, Web-supporters, search engines, along with other websites.

The report also states that most of the malware attacks occur on websites, which surfers visit the greatest as also assume are secured.

Meanwhile, USA continues to be No.1 within worldwide Web-malware, accounting for over 33% of the entire contaminations and supersedes Russia, which's on No.2 at 9.79%, says Cisco. Over one single year (2011-12) China declined from No.2 position amongst the most malware-plagued nations to No.6, trailing behind Denmark and Sweden at 9.55% and 9.27% respectively.

Besides, Android malware infections, in 2012, increased 2,577%, but mobile malware accounted for just 0.5% of all Web-disseminated malicious programs worldwide, says the study.

» SPAMfighter News - 2/7/2013