ScanSafe has recently revealed that over 56,000 websites are under malware attacks, and the number is rising by the day. Password robbers and backdoor Trojans are said to compose what is called the “malware cocktail”. This heady cocktail of viruses and malware is being sent across to millions of Windows users globally from the hacked websites.
How these websites are hacked is, a corrupt iFrame is being embedded into thousands of websites and unsuspecting users’ PC fall prey to the malware while surfing Internet sites. The iFrame leads to an intermediary exploit website, which subsequently loads further exploits and malware from seven varied domains of malware. Judging from the malware binaries, researchers say that the virus attacks may be originating from China. However, websites in China also fall prey to mass hacking.
The malware gets installed on personal computers using Windows and creeps in silently. One of the latest in the malware attacks is SQL injection. In this mass malware attacks, it is not yet clear what the exact motives of the attacks is or what are the exact vulnerabilities that are being exploited. However, users should safeguard their operating systems (OS) and desktop software programs against the malware attacks.
Although Microsoft Windows seems the focus of the attacks, some of the popular software that are being targeted are Apple’s QuickTime, WinZip, Adobe Flash, Adobe PDF, and RealPlayer. Users should ensure that their programs are updated to their latest version. Among these 56,000 websites that have been hacked, many are legitimate online sites. Even charitable and nursing help sites have not been spared.
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