14 DAY TRIAL // ScanSafe, a provider of managed Web security, has made public its statistics following a survey conducted throughout July 2006, on a volume of in excess of 5 billion Web destinations, under the umbrella of its Global Threat Report. According to its parameters, one in 600 social-networking pages was on average hosting various forms of malware as the study indicates that 1% of all Web use is related to social-networking Websites.
"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."
Additionally, ScanSafe revealed that spyware has shown growth tendencies, its volume increasing by 19% compared to the prior month. The context that proofed fertile for spyware and addware was detrimental to viral evolution, as virus presence dropped 14%, the company reporting 238 unique viruses blocked 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."