A malware attack usually occurs when a malicious code has been injected into your website. In most cases hackers inject the code through HTML or htaccess files. There was a time when only porn websites or illegal websites were mainly responsible for malware infections. Nowadays, even a normal website may have links that can infect its visitors with malware. According to a report by Websense, 77% of all websites with malware links are trusted sources or legitimate websites that have been compromised. The report also revealed that there had been a 671% increase in the number of malicious websites in 2008-2009 and web malware is still on the rise today.
Malware is injected onto websites for many reasons, varying from simple pranks and experiments to serious organized internet crime, such as stealing customer credit card details. Considering the severity of this problem, website owners should take protective measures in order to ensure that their website is secured at all times. Let’s take a look at some of the most commonly asked questions about malware links.
What is a Malware Link?
To understand what a malware link is, we need to know what malware is in the first place. Malware refers to malicious code that is designed to interrupt a computer operation or steal sensitive information from a computer or website. It generally includes worms, spyware, computer viruses, adware, crimeware, trojans or other malicious programs.
One of the most common infections that can compromise your website is the malware link. Hackers can insert new malware links into a website or replace your existing links with malicious links. When a visitor access an infected website and clicks on the malicious link, malware viruses get access into the visitor’s computer. Malware links can even redirect your users and customers to phishing or scam websites in order to steal credit card details or email addresses.
How Does a Website Get Infected with Malware Links?
Advertising is a very popular method used by webmasters to earn revenues from a website. In most cases, a job is outsourced to a third party advertising service provider who may skip scanning each and every ad before posting it onto your website. Hackers can take this opportunity to serve malware links into your website. Interestingly, in some cases even Google Adsense, AdultAdWorld and Adbrite were tricked by hackers to allow ads packed with malware links on their networks.
Malware Injection is another technique in which hackers can infect your website. If a hacker inject malicious code into your website, your visitors who click on that specific link will get their PCs infected with the malware. Basically, if a hacker inserts their own malicious code, before the browser processes it, he/ she can effectively control whatever the browser does. The hacker can also collect users’ personal information, which can be misused. In some cases, websites have applications that require some user input through check boxes and forms. Secure websites have adequate filters to make sure that data is entered using only these interfaces. Hackers, however, bypass these security measures and inject malicious code into these legitimate web pages. Hackers may also inject malicious links within the database and collect information and take control of data, or compromise vulnerabilities in the operating system to access files. Another way hackers can plant malware links is if you have weak passwords. Hackers use many different techniques to determine user access passwords to gain access and insert malicious links, such as brute force attacks. You’d be surprised at how many users use “password” as their password!
How to Protect a Website from Malware Links
To secure a website against malware infections, you should hire an ongoing Malware detection scanning service. WebsiteDefender.com offers an extensive solution that protects your website from malware attacks by taking the following measures:
- We detect even the best hidden malware, hidden in your web pages.
- We look for backdoor scripts.
- We find root exploits such as rootkits.
- We check all the JavaScript and iFrames that are within your website’s code.
So, if you want to protect your website from malware infection, sign up for your WebsiteDefender account today and keep your website clean of malware.
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