The private security initiative has released a list of the worst offenders.
StopBadware.org , an organization founded to combat malware (which it calls "badware"), has released a list of the top five hosting services in its "Badware Website Clearinghouse."
The trend, the group argues, is away from sites that knowingly distribute badware and towards hijacking Web sites and using them to host it unknowingly. Many phishing sites work this way as well.
Security on these hijacked sites is, at least in part, the responsibility of the hosting services that run them. The five hosting services with the most affected sites are:
1. iPowerWeb, Inc., (10,834)
2. Layered Technologies, (2,513)
3. ThePlanet.com Internet Services, Inc, (2,056)
4. Internap Network Services, (1,437)
5. CHINANET Guangdong province network, (786)
The site compromises occur largely as a result of weak passswords and exploits of known vulnerabilities in software.
Copyright 2007 by Ziff Davis Media, Distributed by United Press International
