Symantec names top 100 dirtiest sites

by Steve Ragan - Aug 20 2009, 17:45

Symantec has released a list of the dirtiest sites on the Internet, calling them the “worst of the worst” when it comes to Malware and other things of a malicious design. The list, compiled ratings from Norton Safe Web, is based solely on the number of threats detected per site.

Here is a shocker, no pun intended if you get the reference, Symantec said that 48-percent of the top 100 dirtiest sites were dirty as in porn dirty. Yet the remainder of the list contains content that would, on the surface, seem clean and friendly. Figure skating, catering, legal services, and shopping are all examples of the “clean” content discovered.

However, each of those sites had one or more of a common theme. They were all infected with Malware, security risks, and browser exploits. Symantec said that simply visiting them placed the user at risk.

“This list underscores what our research shows. There has been exponential growth in the number of online threats that are constantly evolving as cybercriminals look for new ways to target your money, identity, or assets. In 2008, most new infections occurred while people were surfing the Web,” said Rowan Trollope, senior vice president, Consumer Business Unit, Symantec.

What makes these sites so dirty? Symantec explained it by pointing out the fact that the average number of threats per malicious site rated by Norton Safe Web is 23. With that said, the average number of threats on the Dirtiest Web Sites list is a staggering 18,000 per site. Forty of the top 100 have more than 20,000 threats per site. Moreover, 75-percent of sites on the list have distributed Malware for more than six months.

The entire Dirtiest List is here.

 

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