What are the most dangerous websites?

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(MoneyWatch) Security software company Symantec (SYMC) has released its Internet Security Threat report for 2011, and it is packed with interesting information about the relative risks of online activity.

Perhaps the most fascinating part of the report is in the review of malicious code trends, which lists the 10 most dangerous categories of Websites. These categories of sites don't reflect the total number of infected sites; rather, they represent the kind of sites that tend to be the most infected per URL. Here they are in order of danger:

According to Symantec, 20 percent of all blog and Web communication sites are infected with malicious code, 15 percent of hosting sites are infected, and 10 percent of business and economy sites. Surprisingly, a mere 2 percent of pornographic sites are infected. Conventional wisdom would flip that list upside-down.

Symantec reminds us that Macs are no longer immune to security worries:

"The first known Mac-based bot network emerged in 2009 and 2011 saw a number of new threats emerge for Mac OS X, including trojans like MacDefender, a fake anti-virus program. Mac users are exposed to sites that push trojans by means of SEO poisoning and social networking. In May 2011, Symantec found a malware kit for Mac (Weyland-Yutani BOT) -- the first of its kind to attack the Mac OS X platform. In addition, many attack tools have become cross-platform, exploiting Java exploits whether they are on Macs or Windows PCs."

Symantec

[asaden55555]

ez ubuz em'd ta uveexxx uv

[asaden55555]

ez ubuz em'd ta uveexxx uv

[Socalwine]

According to the list, this website is also dangerous.

[srjmsbnd]

Every one can agree as to the dangers posed by society today, but in actuality it is those corporate entities who like CBS who spread the fear whom are feared most as they undermine their own credibility in the contradictions of their superficial postulations of self-serving self-interest.

[karek40]

The solution to the problem is quite simple, operating system and operational software sold on flash drive. Bios hard wired, turn the machine on and insert the flash drive, contents are loaded into volatile ram when the system starts up, the operational software flash drive is then removed. When the machine is turned off the memory goes away (including all cookies and other trash). Any virus downloaded is gone. If you wish to store anything (data, downloads of any kind) you must insert a different flash drive. The computer would have no hard drive of any kind. The worse that could happen would be you would have a data storage flash drive with a virus. When computer manufacturers finally decide to produce this (and they definitely know it), all the hackers will have nothing to do, It is not possible to infect your operational software flash drive when it is not in your computer. Not only that you won't have to have all the security updates.

[Cat333Pok?mon]

I like keeping all my data on a separate drive. That way, if I'm doing something risky, I can just unplug it and not worry about it being affected.

[jjoe57]

This may be stretch in logic, but I believe the reason on-line porn is lowest on the list is that the porn industry doesn't want to scare away potential customers.

[julianpenrod]

At one time, I had an idea of outfitting computers with a separate, fully functional system, completely emulating a computer's operation, in size, speed, operation, and so on. This second system would be used to host material downloaded before it was permitted to the main system. If the software caused the decoy system to break down, it would not be permitted through. To keep malicious software from waiting out the first test then going bad, it would be "entered" into the test system a random number of times. Alternately, I considered requiring software be sent through a kind of simulator, which would look at code, figure out, from looking at it, what it would do, then decide if it was to be permitted. It will be interesting to see how soon it will be before any of the companies decide to claim they had been working on these ideas all along.

[nohater]

just assume they are all dangerous. there are no friends on the Net.

[Wookiee-1138]

I'm guessing you don't know any bronies. We're all friends.

John de Lancie is a guy worshiped by both Trekkies AND Whovians and he's hailed bronies as the nicest, most awesome folks on the Internet.

[AceCodeX]

As long as you have a secure browser (Chrome, Firefox, etc...) have 3rd-party cookies disabled, keep your AntiMalware programs up-to-date, keep Windows Firewall enabled, and so forth, you shouldn't have to worry too much. Lots of websites have gone bad since the dawn of the Internet. If you're not on a secured machine, you're asking for trouble. It's as simple as that. Think security. Think smart.

[erasmus111]

I had a Norton antivirus program where it would show a green tick mark if the website was safe. The problem is that once you are in that website there is usually other crap listed on the side. Other websites you can go to. I clicked on one, once, and got a virus.

No website is safe. It could be safe today, but not tomorrow.