Do you know what are the most riskiest domains in the web ?

McAfee, a security agency, released its annual, “Mapping the Mal Web” report naming the riskiest domains in the web worldwide. Disturbingly, most of the riskiest domains come from Asia-Pacific region.

The following are the top 10 riskiest domains in the web:

1. Cameroon (.cm) – Cameroon from Africa got in the top list for 2009 overthrowing Hong Kong (.hk) as the web’s riskiest domain for 2008. With a risk rating of 1.1%, Hong Kong dropped to the 34th place this year. It is a small African country bordering Nigeria. It’s the first time that Cameroon entered the list getting the top spot with the risk rate of 36.7%. Most of the time, users mistype .com to .cm making it as the common typo for domains. Because of this, many cyber criminals decides to come up with fake typo-squatting sites redirecting users to download malicious downloads, spyware, adware and others.

2. Commercial (.com) – .com is considered as the most common domain, also getting more and more dangerous as of 2009. It has been in the ninth place in 2008 and grabbing the second most dangerous domain for 2009. It is also the most risky generic top level domain (TLD).

3. China (.cn) – The third spot belongs to China with the risk rating of 23.4% while having a 11.8% risk rate in 2008. McAfee’s report shows that websites registered with the .cn are more related spam sites.

4. Samoa (.ws) – Samoa is in fourth place with a 17.8% risk percentage compared to its security risk of 3.8% the other year. It has been reported that Samoan-registered domains are known risky for its activities like phishing and malicious downloading. Together with China, Samoa stayed in the top 5 riskiest domains since 2008.

5. Information (.info) – With 15.8% risk rate for 2009 and 11.7% for 2008, .info is considered as the most spammy domain because its sites generates a lot of junk mail. Its activity is largely spam related.

6. Philippines (.ph) – Philippines marked the sixth spot with the overall risk level of 13.1% as compared to its 2008’s risk rate of 7.7%. Its registered sites are getting more into spam and phishing than the malicious downloads.

7. Network (.net) – The seventh riskiest domain is the Network (.net) having the risk rate of 5.8% compared to its higher security risk in 2008.

8. Former Soviet Union (.su) – Former Soviet Union joined the top list for the first time, with the 5.2% security risk. Reports noted that its domains are mainly used linking phishing and malicious download activity.

9. Russia (.ru) – Russia is in the ninth place getting a risk rate of 4.6%. In 2008, it has a security risk of 6%. Domains from Russia are distributed for phishing, spam and malicious downloads.

10. Singapore (.sg) – Next to the Philippines belonging to the Asia-Pacific country, Singapore had the tenth place with the overall risk of 4.6%, compared to 0.3% last year. .sg domains were distributed evenly for spam and download activity.

The riskiest domain for malicious downloads comes from Romania (.ro). 21% of its domains are offering viruses, spyware and adware. The Government (.gov) domain is the safest domain for having 0% risk. Japan (.jp) domains got a rating of 0.1% proving to be the safest country domain in the web.

The “Mapping the Mal Web” report just shows how smart the cyber criminals are they quickly change their strategies to attract more victims without being caught. Attackers prefer to target places where it will be cheap and convenient for them to register their sites.

How Can Techie Now Help?

McAfee has named the world’s riskiest domains. With the cyber criminals roaming the web, any domain from any country can be affected by these phishing, spam and malicious downloads. It just proved that it’s really not that safe when it comes to browsing the web. The right thing to do is to make sure that you have a security software ready in your computer for protection. If you are looking for services that can protect your computer, you can trust Techie Now with that. Contact us now for any PC support services like virus and spyware removal, performance optimization, installation and configuration and general repair.

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We all have experienced many online threats last year. And as year changes to 2010, the more online threats are changing too. Cybercriminals will be more eager to spread online threats and attack computers to benefit with any valuable information challenging users for security.

Here are some of the predictions that will challenge computer security this year:

1. Spam, Scams on Social Networking and Real-time Sites – A group of security researchers belonging from Websense, Breach Security, IBM Internet Security Systems‘ X-Force, and Symantec agreed that cybercriminals will focus their attacks on social networking sites such as Facebook, MySpace, and LinkedIn, and on real-time social sites like Twitter. When it comes to real-time features, Google, especially Google Wave, as well as Bing will be their target. The attackers enjoy the fact it will take time for others to discover the existence of a malicious link or file. Users may recognize one but still one way or another, there will still be victims.

2. Crime Cloud – Security vendors specifically AVG, M86, and RSA predicted that criminals will be attacking and using use cloud services directly to control attacks. and using them to direct and control attacks. IBM researchers are anticipating to see attackers exploiting more services. Take Amazon AWS for example which already served as a host for a malware command and control server.

3. Malware Hijacking Trusted Sites – Breach Security observes continuous improvements when it comes to compromising trusted sites and infecting them with malware. Numerous incidents of SQL injection has been proven successful in attacking sites. No doubt, it will happen again. Cybercriminals prefer to have a third-party that will distribute their malware.

4. Macs Will Be Compromised – It’s been years now that security companies have been talking about Mac being targeted by attackers for malware. According to Websense, exploitation will happen affecting Safari under Mac OS X which will invite hackers to target the Mac platform. Symantec is worried that Mac users who are not spending money to buy antivirus software yearly will not be protected with such attack. Zscaler still believe that Apple can somehow oblige the company to strengthen its security to surpassed continuous attacks. Many think Macs will be widely affected because of Adobe Flash vulnerability.

5. Search Engine Poisoning and Malvertising – Cybercriminals will exert more efforts on exploiting trusted sites. For them to infect sites, they will make use of search engines and advertisements. They will continue to threaten and weaken search results and enjoy the attention breaking news and events. Google together with Microsoft will assure its users for a safe search and advertising. Of course, they wouldn’t want their users to not trust them.

6. Increasing Number of Bots – Why would cyber criminals waste their time with cloud-hosted malware when botnets can do the same thing? Botnets are better than cybercriminals. It can also be a source of income generating cash for criminals and hijacking other botnets for money. This will cause conflict preventing botnets to grow and attracting security experts and law enforcement. It’s botnets against other botnets. It’s like what happened to Zeus/Zbot being shut down by Bredolab botnet. Symantec claimed that botnets have become the foundation of cybercrime.

7. Piracy Gets Riskier – Microsoft has started making a move to lessen software piracy since last December. They received many complaints from users who buy the pirated version of Windows. IBM researchers are expecting that the continuous use of the pirated software will infection more users will malware.

8. Mobile Security Issue – Smartphones like iPhone and Android-based handsets are like miniature personal computers. They are being used for business purposes. In 2010, Websense predicted that smartphones will be targeted for attacks just like the computers. Nowadays, security vendors either have or are developing a mobile security product service. IBM thinks that mobile attacks will still be limited.

9. Major Insider Theft Scandal Will – It is expected next year that someone who has been in a large organization accessing company data will be caught to be working for or with a cybercrime group. The Identity Theft Resource expected that the number of insider cases will increase because of failure to follow basic workplace security protocols.

10. Clickjacking is Back – According to Zscaler, clickjacking will strike back. Clickjacking is a malicious technique that tricks users to reveal confidential information or take control of their computer while clicking the sites. Jeremiah Grossman of WhiteHat Security and Robert “RSnake” Hansen of SecTheory reveal about the technique in October 2008. Efforts have made to lessen the risk of clickjacking but it is still effective to use especially with a social engineering component.

How Can Techie Now Help?

The above security threats serves as a reminder for computer users to be careful over the web. You’ll never know what security threat you will be into. For now, the best protection is a reliable and updated antivirus software that will keep you and your computer in trouble. When it comes to your computer’s protection, Techie Now is the name you can trust. Techie Now offers PC support services: virus and spyware removal, performance optimization, installation and configuration and general repair.

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Security researchers stated that there was a huge spam campaign that happened early this December with a message coming from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) asking the people to register for H1N1 vaccinations.

The e-mail messages redirect the innocent victims to a fake CDC site convincing them to create their profile. In this way, they will receive a swine flu vaccination. The fake site advises the users to download a vaccination profile archive which includes the link for that download. Of course, H1N1 known for its aggressive spread and lack of vaccine, people grab the mistaken opportunity and download the link which is a new variant of the Zbot Trojan horse. Security companies called it “Zeus”. It is a bot malware that hijacks your Windows PC for sending more spam and other nefarious activities.

Enormous number messages hit the users’ filter during the day when the bogus CDC messages started arriving to inboxes with the subject lines like “State Vaccination H1N1 Program, “Governmental registration program on the H1N1 vaccination” and “Create your personal Vaccination Profile.”
According to AppRiver, an email and web security solutions to businesses from Florida, the spam campaign’s average was about 18,000 messages per minute, or about 1.1 million per hour. It considered as the biggest when it comes to malware-oriented run currently reaching its customers and virus/phishing campaign right now. Because of its high volume, AppRiver has to block an approximate of 13 million messages during that time. 37 of 41 anti-virus detection engines of AppRiver has not detected the said Zbot Trojan but later recognized by its 21 detection engines.

The malware author is wise enough to make a backup attack plan for those people who are too cautious to clink the link. The fake CDC site has an iframe, an invisible element on the page which contains attack code exploiting Adobe Software vulnerabilities like Adobe Reader and Flash player. Attackers are too frustrated for being incapable to exploit Windows that they target Adobe’s applications. In the most recent Adobe Reader update, there are patched 29 vulnerabilities in the PDF viewer. The update made last October plugged a hole already being used by hackers.

Zbot, also called a “botnet” in security parlance, is the main active collection of compromised computers. When it comes to malicious activity, Zbot has been in the top for months. It was used by a British couple who then get arrested for stealing online banking account usernames and passwords. McAfee, AppRiver’s rival security company, the host servers of the fake CDC is can be located in Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Brazil, India and Malaysia.

How Can Techie Now Help?

Even H1N1 vaccinations are being used by the attackers to victimize innocent people whose only concern is to protect themselves from the disease. This really questions our computer security. If you feel that your PC is not protected from any online attacks, contact Techie Now for your PC support services such as virus and spyware removal, performance optimization, installation and configuration, and general repair. Techie Now is what you need for your PC needs.

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Twitter is being used by many people worldwide in these days. It’s a free social networking and micro-blogging service enabling its users to read and send messages. Because of its increasing popularity, Twitter has exerted its effort to stop attacks which includes spam, worms such as Mikeyy, and phishing. Twitter confirmed that the site was hacked last May where some individual account information were also leaked.

In regards to this, Kaspersky revealed a new tool named “Krab Krawler”. It will analyze million of tweets posted on Twitter every day and will block any Malware associated with them.

Krab Krawler will:

• looks at every public post as it appears in on Twitter
• extracts any URLs in them and analyzes the web page they go to
• expands any URLs that have been shortened

Twitter scans almost 500,000 new unique URLs every day where there are about 100 to 1,000 Malware attacks happen. Koobface virus has targeted Twitter by posting malicious links from infected users’ accounts. Twenty-six (26) percent of the total Twitter posts contain URLs redirecting to spam sites which are marketing products or services and not considered Malware. Thousands of accounts post spam links created by bots. Most of the URLs redirect to online dating sites.

Kaspersky’s regular antivirus software can detect and block ninety-five (95) percent of the Malware Twitter users are afraid of. Some antivirus companies focus protecting e-mail-borne viruses but also give more attention to social-media sites now. For now, Finjan offers SecureTweets to Twitter users. SecureTweets is a  free browser plug-in that warns the users as they come upon a malicious URL in Twitter, also includes Blogger, Gmail, Google search, MSN, MySpace, Yahoo and more sites.

Attackers are fond of hitting social-media sites because there are many people using them and trusting messages in there with their friends more than they do in e-mails. According to Kaspersky, Trojan-Clicker.HTMLIFrame is the most common piece of Malware associated with Twitter. It is a malicious Javascript that can be transferred to computer when you visit a compromised web site.

How Can Techie Now Help?

If your PC gets infected while using Twitter and you need help, feel free to contact Techie Now. Our virus removal services will be the solution you are looking for. We offer better services at a lower price. With Techie Now, your PC is at good hands.

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