Overly broad permissions can turn one compromised account into a much larger security problem. Learn how to reduce unnecessary access, review privileges, and apply least privilege across modern Linux systems. Review Linux Privileges×

Alerts This Week
Warning Icon 1 523
Alerts This Week
Warning Icon 1 523

Websense Report Highlights 671% Surge In Web Malware Threats

Calendar Sep 16, 2009 • User Avatar Anthony Pell
1 min read
General Esm H446
Topics%20covered

Topics Covered

cyber threats security threat business safety malicious sites web malware Internet security report
The growing threat to businesses from the web was put into sharper focus today, after security vendor Websense reported a whopping 671 per cent rise in the number of malicious sites during the past year. The firm's biannual State of Internet Security (PDF) report is compiled using email and web site scanning data collected by Websense Security Labs. The report found growth not only in the number of malicious sites but in the continued activity designed to compromise legitimate sites.

In the first half of 2009, over three-quarters of web sites with malicious code were found to be legitimate sites that had been compromised. Recent widespread attacks such as NineBall and Gumblar were blamed for injecting malware into sites on a huge scale.