Even the most trusted Web sites like search engines, mainstream news sites and blogs are at a risk of hosting malicious links that pose a threat to the users' computers, a study on Thursday said.
According to a IBM XForce study, there has been a 508 per cent increase in the number of new malicious web links found in the first half of 2009 even on trusted sites like popular search engines, blogs, bulletin boards, personal Web sites, online magazines and mainstream news sites.
"There is no such thing as safe browsing today and it is no longer the case that only the red light district sites are responsible for malware. We've reached a tipping point where every website should be viewed as suspicious... The threat convergence of the web ecosystem is creating a perfect storm of criminal activity," X-Force Director Kris Lamb said.
The report found a significant rise in web application attacks with the intent to steal and manipulate data and take command and control of infected computers.
"Two of the major themes for the first half of 2009 are the increase in sites hosting malware and the doubling of obfuscated web attacks," Lumb said.
He added that there is a fundamental security weakness in the web ecosystem and interoperability between browsers, plug-ins, content and server applications have dramatically increased complexity and risk factors.
