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February 15, 2008
"Drive-by Download" stats
"Drive-by Download" stats: The good news? Google results are pretty safe -- every ten pages of search results list only one or two sites which attempt to install software on unpatched machines. The bad news? It's hard to tell a bad site by looking at it -- a lot of exploits come from normal sites which run old server software and are discovered by robots, which then diagnose and deliver appropriate infections. But the other good news? Most of the exploits delivered from infected sites try to take advantage of older, unpatched client machines -- there's a lot you can do to avoid being a victim. But then there's the other bad news: criminals vary the code regularly to avoid detection, so even the best of us are vulnerable. And the researchers identify third party content as a leading contributor -- that old traffic counter on your site may have shifted owners since you installed it, and be delivering a JavaScript exploit instead. Serious stuff -- we need to keep our client software updated, but we also need to think hard about third-party content, too. Thanks to the Google staff for researching their data this way. [via Robert McMillan]
Posted by JohnDowdell at February 15, 2008 10:33 PM
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