One In Ten Web Pages Contain Malicious Code

One In Ten Web Pages Contain Malicious Code

news.bbc.co.uk

One in 10 web pages scrutinised by search giant Google contained malicious code that could infect a user's PC.

Researchers from the firm surveyed billions of sites, subjecting 4.5 million pages to "in-depth analysis".

About 450,000 were capable of launching so-called "drive-by downloads", sites that install malicious code, such as spyware, without a user's knowledge.

A further 700,000 pages were thought to contain code that could compromise a user's computer, the team report.

(visit the link for the full news article)

I haven't noticed anything malicious on my machines, but with this stuff, I may not even know it happened.

But increasingly, criminals are using drive-bys to install keyloggers that steal login and password information.

Other pieces of malicious code hijack a computer turning it into a "bot", a remotely controlled PC.

Drive-by downloads represent a shift away from traditional methods of infecting a computer, such as spam and email attachments.

news.bbc.co.uk
(visit the link for the full news article)

Yeah, I guess you are followed where ever money is involved the whole "Drive by downloading/key logging" is pretty scary. You could be surfing the net one day and have you're credit card done with the next.

I would have thought the numbers to be even higher. Obviously in todays Internet surfing one needs to be prepared. Having the latest patches, security fixes, a firewall, anti-virus and spyware detection are just some of the effective tools needed. Common sense is another one. Personally I use firefox as IE is simply too laden with flaws. That doesn't mean firefox isn't without its own issues but microsoft browsers and operating systems still remain in the cross-hairs.

brill