Viruses, spyware gain on legitimate Web sites
Cyber criminals are increasingly spreading viruses and spyware through legitimate Web sites, including social-networking and search services, a survey by a security-software maker found.
About 75 percent of sites that had malicious content in the first half of 2008 had "seemingly good reputations," up from 50 percent six months earlier, a study by San Diego-based Websense Inc. showed.
About 60 percent of the world's 100 top Web sites hosted viruses or directed users to malicious sites.
Criminals are targeting popular Web sites, rather than building their own, to reach a larger base of visitors, Websense said.
That boosts their chances of gaining access to people's personal information or spreading viruses more widely.
Hackers also are installing spyware, which lets them track what users are doing with their computers.
The study found that about 77 percent of all e-mails in circulation the past six months had links to spam sites or malicious Web sites, an 18 percent increase from December 2007.
