Spyware, Adware Increase 19 Percent, Web Viruses Decrease 14 Percent in July
LONDON and SAN MATEO, Calif.--Aug. 9, 2006 -- ScanSafe, the global leader in managed Web security, has released its latest Global Threat Report on Web filtering, spyware and viruses. According to an analysis of more than five billion Web requests in July, ScanSafe found that on average, up to one in 600 profile pages on social-networking sites hosted some form of malware. The company also reported that the use of social-networking sites, often assumed to be popular only with teens, accounted for approximately 1 percent of all Web use in the workplace.
"Social-networking sites have been newsworthy because of the concern over our children's safety, but beyond unsafe contact with harmful adults, these sites are an emerging and potentially ripe threat vector that can expose children to harmful software," said Eldar Tuvey, CEO and co-founder, ScanSafe. "Users are frequently subject to unwanted spyware and adware that can compromise their PCs, track online behavior and degrade PC performance."
The majority of malware identified by ScanSafe was spyware and adware, and ranged from more benign programs that track usage to difficult-to-remove spyware that can affect a user's Web experience, for example, by redirecting the browser.
Social-networking sites like Facebook, which typically use a university or college email address to verify a user's identity and LinkedIn, a site used for business networking, tended to be more secure than more open social-networking sites. For example, ScanSafe found no instances of malware on LinkedIn.
The research also revealed the presence of referrals to adult-themed personals sites, such as "adultfriendfinder.com," on social-network sites popular with teens.
"The presence of adult-oriented adware is disturbing, not only because much of it is inappropriate content for minors but because underage users may not be in a position to consent to installing adware or understand the end-user license agreement," Tuvey said.
Spyware Increases 19 Percent While Web Viruses Decrease 14 percent in July
In addition to the statistics on social-networking sites, ScanSafe reported that spyware increased 19 percent in July while Web viruses decreased 14 percent. Web viruses identified and blocked by Outbreak IntelligenceTM, the company's proprietary heuristics engine that can detect zero-hour threats--threats that appear before an anti-virus signature becomes available--increased slightly and accounted for nearly 13 percent of all Web viruses blocked by the company in July.
"There may be some seasonality to Web viruses and spyware," Tuvey said. "However, what does remain constant is the occurrence of zero-hour threats which many businesses and consumers are unprotected from because they rely solely on signature-based virus protection."
The ScanSafe Global Threat Center reported it blocked 238 unique viruses in July, 75 of which were new unique viruses--viruses blocked for the first time by ScanSafe.
The ScanSafe Global Threat Report is based on real-time analysis of more than five billion Web requests processed by the company in July and represents the largest analysis of Web security threats based on real-world Web traffic.
The ScanSafe Threat Center monitors the global state of Web traffic, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. At the core of the ScanSafe Threat Center is Outbreak Intelligence, which leverages ScanSafe's position at the Internet-level to proactively identify threats, quickly develop heuristics, and test these against real data to ensure accuracy and effectiveness. ScanSafe's ability to analyze threats proactively ensures that Outbreak Intelligence heuristics are created and updated for immediate protection from both known and unknown threats.
About ScanSafe
ScanSafe is the global leader in managed Web security, ensuring a safe and productive Internet environment for businesses around the world. The easy-to-use service requires no hardware and delivers real-time, complete protection from the latest Web threats. ScanSafe's solutions keep viruses and spyware off corporate networks and allow businesses to control and secure the use of the Web and instant messaging applications.
Powered by its proactive Outbreak IntelligenceTM heuristic technology, ScanSafe processes more than five billion Web requests and blocks five million threats each month for customers including Rothschild, Condé Nast and BMW.
Since pioneering the market for managed corporate Web security, ScanSafe continues to deliver innovative Web security solutions, including the introduction of ScandooTM--the world's first free secure Internet search tool that classifies search results based on the presence of malware and unwanted content.
With offices in London and San Mateo, California, ScanSafe is privately owned and financed by Benchmark Capital. The company received the 2006 Info Security Global Product Excellence Award for Best Managed Security Service, and was named one of Red Herring's Top 100 Technology companies of 2005.
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