Breaking News: CFOs increasingly involved in IT investment decisions

ZDNet / News / Security

China hosts nearly half of malware sites

By Victoria Ho , ZDNet Asia on September 3, 2007 

 

Summary

Malware-infected sites continue to proliferate, with China as the top source of almost 50 percent of global threats, a Sophos report reveals.

Events

IBM Technology Conference & Expo 2012
May 23, 2012

Convention Centre B2 Room at 22nd Floor, Centara Grand @ Central World, 999/99 Rama I Road, Pathumwan, Bangkok 10330

Echelon 2012
June 11 and 12, 2012

University Cultural Centre, National University of Singapore

Startup Asia Jakarta 2012
June 7 and 8, 2012

12th Floor, Annex Building, Wisma Nusantara Complex, Jl. M.H. Thamrin No. 59 Jakarta 10350, Indonesia

MMA Forum Singapore
April 23-25, 2012

Grand Hyatt Singapore

Submit

China is host to almost half of the world's malware-infected Web sites.

According to a report released Monday by antivirus company Sophos, China--including Hong Kong--hosted 44.8 percent of the world's infected sites in August 2007. The United States ranked a distant second, hosting 20.8 percent of Web sites that contain malicious code.

The number of infected Web pages has also grown. Sophos said that it detected an average of 5,000 new infected pages each day in the month of August.

The company warned that simply staying clear of sites hosted in the top three countries of China, United States and Russia was not effective in avoiding malware.

Said Carole Theriault, Sophos senior security consultant, in a statement: "While more than three quarters of infected Web pages are hosted in just three countries, that doesn't mean you only get hit if you visit Web sites based in those areas.

"Hackers are hijacking Web sites around the world to make them point to malware on sites based in China, the United States and Russia. Cybercriminals don't discriminate when it comes to targeting the Web," she added.

Sophos also warned against a sharp rise in spam pointing people to these infected sites. Malicious senders, in an attempt to bypass attachment virus scanners, are using messages that direct users to Web sites with malicious code. Computers get infected when users click on the links in the e-mail message.

"Most malware writers...are using spam and the Web to infect users," said Theriault. "Criminals are hard at work trying to slip past filters at the corporate gateway."

June saw a spike in spam hosted on Chinese domains, where the figure rose from almost zero to 450 spam domains.

Talkback

Add your opinion

In order to post a comment, you need to be registered. (Sign In or register below)

Post your comment

Resource Centre Useful content from our premier sponsors

Latest Stories

Watch your mouth

Malaysia organizations don't realize severity of cyberattacks

Pacnet CEO departs; acquisition rumors gain steam

Idea Cellular follows Airtel, cuts India 3G tariffs

China solar cell makers seek Taiwan partnerships

ZDNet Asia Live

Malaysia organizations don't realize severity of cyberattacks. http://t.co/QK7PKdaP

RT @daryllau: Malaysia offers some manufacturing benefits over China http://t.co/mH23Uumr

Malaysia organizations don't realize severity of cyberattacks - ZDNet Asia http://t.co/HniF8J72 #news

#InfoSec Malaysia organizations don't realize severity of cyberattacks - ZDNet Asia http://t.co/vFzACdwm #CyberSecurity

http://t.co/bTDnDh7J Malaysia organizations don't realize severity of cyberattacks - ZDNet Asi... http://t.co/CzsMF2zn #infosec #security

Malaysia organizations don't realize severity of cyberattacks - ZDNet Asia: Malaysia organizat... http://t.co/iUpDhbeU #cloud #fail #TCN

Pacnet CEO departs; acquisition rumors gain steam. http://t.co/Nu2Mdcj0

Malaysia organizations don't realize severity of cyberattacks http://t.co/zeaxHbYa http://t.co/erFSwAUB #arcavir

http://t.co/VNaUVSe1 Malaysia organizations don't realize severity of cyberattacks: Cyberatt... http://t.co/TA5zWvUI http://t.co/wiqTBKkj

Malaysia organizations don't realize severity of cyberattacks - ZDNet Asia: Malaysia organizations don't realize... http://t.co/x1BJ0qSK

Malaysia organizations don't realize severity of cyberattacks - ZDNet Asia: Malaysia organizations don't realize... http://t.co/3Yaa40JE

Malaysia organizations don't realize severity of cyberattacks, country's minister of sci, tech, innovation says http://t.co/KGEHLi18 #in

Malaysia offers some manufacturing benefits over China http://t.co/mH23Uumr

Malaysia offers some manufacturing benefits over China - ZDNet Asia http://t.co/j04OySNl

RT @zdnetasia: Idea Cellular follows Airtel, cuts India 3G tariffs. http://t.co/WNjnBHSX

So much as we know , MTK6575 extremely integrated frequency1GHz ARM Cortex-A9 processor, the superiority of 3G / HSPA Modem, and help the...

1 day ago by y15822137359 on 5 SaaS adoption speed bumps to avoid

I reckon your view: "CRM is strategy, not software", if a company replicating the approach uses in ERP implementation into CRM, what they...

2 days ago by wykoong on Gartner: Mobile CRM gives better ROI than social

This video will teach you about the Excel fill handle but also provide you with a workook to download... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=...

2 days ago by TradeBrother on A quick fill handle trick for Microsoft Excel

waiting...

4 days ago by eapete on What should count in a company's market value?

Boy, you've opened a can of worms now.

Wait for the rants & raves.

4 days ago by eapete on What should count in a company's market value?

I was puzzling before this whether to replicate the success formula we executed for a financial institute, and come out with a standard s...

5 days ago by wykoong on Drop the egos, copy ideas, then innovate

Keep up with ZDNet Asia

Facebook Join our fan page

RSS Feeds Subscribe now

NewslettersNewsletters Subscribe today

Twitter Follow us