bandula
05-11-2007, 10:43 PM
Google searches web's dark side
One in 10 web pages scrutinised by search giant Google contained malicious code that could infect a user's PC.
Researchers from the firm surveyed billions of sites, subjecting 4.5 million pages to "in-depth analysis".
About 450,000 were capable of launching so-called "drive-by downloads", sites that install malicious code, such as spyware, without a user's knowledge.
A further 700,000 pages were thought to contain code that could compromise a user's computer, the team report.
To address the problem, the researchers say the company has "started an effort to identify all web pages on the internet that could be malicious".
Phantom sites
Drive-by downloads are an increasingly common way to infect a computer or steal sensitive information.
They usually consist of malicious programs that automatically install when a potential victim visits a booby-trapped website.
"To entice users to install malware, adversaries employ social engineering," wrote Google researcher Niels Provos and his colleagues in a paper titled The Ghost In The Browser.
News from BBC
>http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6645895.stm
One in 10 web pages scrutinised by search giant Google contained malicious code that could infect a user's PC.
Researchers from the firm surveyed billions of sites, subjecting 4.5 million pages to "in-depth analysis".
About 450,000 were capable of launching so-called "drive-by downloads", sites that install malicious code, such as spyware, without a user's knowledge.
A further 700,000 pages were thought to contain code that could compromise a user's computer, the team report.
To address the problem, the researchers say the company has "started an effort to identify all web pages on the internet that could be malicious".
Phantom sites
Drive-by downloads are an increasingly common way to infect a computer or steal sensitive information.
They usually consist of malicious programs that automatically install when a potential victim visits a booby-trapped website.
"To entice users to install malware, adversaries employ social engineering," wrote Google researcher Niels Provos and his colleagues in a paper titled The Ghost In The Browser.
News from BBC
>http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6645895.stm