Offensive Content Pervades Blogosphere
According to ScanSafe’s monthly Global Threat Report for March 2007, up to 80% of all blogs on the Web contain offensive content, which includes adult language and porn. Six percent of all blogs host malware.
In order to be included in the list of blogs with offensive content, a blog had to have at least one post containing profanities, porn, or other content that can be deemed offensive.
"The content on blogs and other sites, powered by user contributed content, is constantly changing. As a result, Web security solutions that rely on Web crawling – or periodically scouring the Web for threats – rather than actually scanning the URL each time it is requested, can leave users exposed to malware and unwanted content," said Dan Nadir, vice president, product strategy, at ScanSafe.
To put the prevalence of profanity into perspective, Nadir said that the f-word had appeared on as many blogs as the word "China."
Nadir also stressed that these sites pose a threat to corporate networks that allow employees to view potentially dangerous pages.
The top five malware programs found on blogs were Trojan.Win32.Diamin.js, Trojan-Downloader.VBS.Small.ca, Trojan-Downloader.Win32.Delf.acc, Trojan-Dropper.Win32.Agent.bfd, and Trojan.JS.Cardst,1,1, in that order.
Blogger was the most requested blog-related site.
The March 2007 Global Threat Report is based on real-time analysis of more than 7 billion Web requests scanned and more than 12 million Web threats blocked by ScanSafe on behalf of its corporate clients.
ScanSafe also reported that it observed a 34% increase in spyware in March. Nadir said that 2006 saw an overall increase in spyware of 254%.
Sources:
http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,131091-c,techindustrytrends/article.html#
http://www.scansafe.com/news/press_releases/
press_releases_2007/scansafe_reports_up_to_80
_percent_of_blogs_host_offensive_content
