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StopBadware.org Releases 2007 Outlook on Badware

Cambridge, MA -StopBadware.org- StopBadware.org, the consumer protection initiative developed to combat badware, today released a comprehensive analysis of current online threats and information Internet users can use to help stay safe. ?Trends in Badware 2007,? StopBadware.org?s plain-English explanation of badware threats to user privacy and security, is based on data and research over the past year. It explains website identity theft, compromised websites, social networking scams, and other badware trends that pose significant risk to consumers. ?Trends in Badware? provides visual examples of the most common threats, as well as some that consumers may not immediately suspect.

"One of StopBadware.org's primary goals is to educate users on current threats and provide information on how to stay safe," said John Palfrey, co-director of StopBadware.org and executive director of the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard Law School. "Badware distributors are constantly adapting to new technologies and finding new ways to cause harm through the Internet. Now, users can get infected by simply browsing a reputable website or clicking on links posted to their favorite blogs or social networks. We want to make sure that consumers have up-to-date information on emerging trends so they know what to look for when online."

"The trends are worrisome," said Oxford professor and StopBadware.org co-director Jonathan Zittrain. "It's becoming commonplace for mainstream web sites to be hacked so that they infect visiting computers. Webmasters are not fully aware of the risks, nor are many of them convinced that it is their responsibility to contain them. Even if they are eager to clean up, they do not have easy places to turn to for help."

Many of the websites that distribute badware are normally benign sites that have been compromised without the knowledge of the website owner, for example due to malicious hacking. Making matters worse, badware is now commonly distributed via "drive-by downloads," in which badware is downloaded to a user's computer simply because an infected website was visited.

StopBadware.org's analysis is based on research using data from hundreds of thousands of infected websites, provided through a research partnership with Google.

To download a full copy of "Trends in Badware," please follow this link.

About StopBadware.org

StopBadware.org is a nonprofit consumer protection initiative working to combat badware and is led by Harvard Law School's Berkman Center for Internet & Society and Oxford University's Oxford Internet Institute. Consumer Reports WebWatch serves as an unpaid special advisor. The initiative is supported by Google, Lenovo, Paypal, Sun Microsystems, and VeriSign. For more information, please visit http://www.stopbadware.org.