New McAfee Research Names Hong Kong as Most Dangerous Country Domain;
Finland is Safest
SANTA CLARA, Calif., June 4 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Hong Kong (.hk)
domain has jumped 28 places as the most dangerous place to surf and search
on the web according to a new McAfee, Inc. (NYSE: MFE) report called
"Mapping the Mal Web Revisited" which is released today. Hong Kong takes
the mantle from Tokelau, a tiny island of 1,500 inhabitants in the South
Pacific.
"Just like the real world, the virtual threats and risks are constantly
changing. As our research shows, Web sites that are safe today can be
dangerous tomorrow. Surfing the Web based on conventional wisdom is not
enough to avoid risk online," said Jeff Green, Senior Vice President of
Product Development & Avert Labs.
The second annual McAfee "Mapping the Mal Web" report into the riskiest
and safest places on the Web reveals that 19.2% of all Web sites ending in
the ".hk" domain pose a security threat(1) to Web users. China (.cn) is
second this year with over 11%. By contrast Finland (.fi) remains the
safest online destination for the second year with 0.05%, followed by Japan
(.jp).
The most risky generic domain from 2007's report became more dangerous
with 11.8% of all sites ending in .info posing a security threat and is the
third most dangerous domain overall while government websites (.gov)
remained the safest generic domain. The most popular domain, .com, is the
ninth riskiest overall. The full McAfee "Mapping the Mal Web Revisited"
report is available for download at http://www.mcafee.com/advice.
Using the award-winning McAfee(R) SiteAdvisor(R) technology, McAfee
analyzed 9.9 million heavily trafficked Web sites found in 265 different
country (those ending in country letters e.g. Brazil .br) and generic
(those ending in .net or .info for example) domains.
The study compared the ratings of sites found in each of the 265
country and generic domains and ranked them by the number of risky Web
sites found in each domain that contained adware, spyware, viruses, spam,
excessive pop-ups, browser exploits or links to other red-rated sites. (2)
The World's Most Overall Overall The World's Overall Overall
Dangerous Country rank in rank in Safest Country rank in rank in
Web Domains 2008 2007 Web Domain 2008 2007
(ranked in order) (ranked in order)
Hong Kong (.hk) 1 28 Finland (.fi) 74 70
PR of China (.cn) 2 11 Japan (.jp) 72 57
Philippines (.ph) 4 19 Norway (.no) 71 68
Romania (.ro) 5 4 Slovenia (.si) 70 62
Russia (.ru) 8 7 Colombia (.co) 69 64
Among country domains Romania (.ro) and Russia (.ru) remained in the
top five most dangerous places with 6.75% and 6% of their Web sites ranked
as risky while country domains like Japan (.jp) and Australia (.au)
remained safe surfing environments.
Other key findings from McAfee "Mapping the Mal Web Revisited" report
2008 include:
-- The chance of downloading spyware, adware, viruses or other unwanted
software from surfing the Web increased 41.5% over 2007
-- Sites which offer downloads such as ringtones and screen savers that
are also loaded with viruses, spyware and adware increased over the
last year from 3.3% to 4.7%
-- The Philippines (.ph) experienced a 270% increase in overall riskiness
-- Tokelau (.tk) and Samoa (.ws) were notably safer in 2008 dropping to
28th and 12th
-- In Europe, Spain (.es) experienced a 91% increase in overall risk
"For administrators of top-level domains this study should act as a
wake- up call. Last year's report spurred Tokelau's domain manager to
reexamine its policies," said Jeff Green, Senior Vice President of Product
Development & Avert Labs. "Not all domain managers are as accommodating so
our mission is to educate consumers of the dangers and protect them in
every way they enjoy the Web whether through their PC, the Web itself, or
mobile phone. With our new secure search and website safety certification,
we're taking the guesswork out of searching and surfing online so that
consumers enjoy a safer Web experience."
Note to editors:
(1) The domain risk assessments come from the McAfee SiteAdvisor site
rating database. SiteAdvisor tests sites for the presence of risky
behaviors such as browser exploits, adware/spyware/Trojans/viruses,
high likelihood of receiving spam, affiliation with other risky
sites, and aggressive pop-up marketing. Red site ratings are given to
Web sites that exhibit one or more of these behaviors. Yellow site
ratings are given to sites that merit caution before using
(2) Rankings are restricted to 74 heavily tested top level domains and
based on percent of red and yellow sites
McAfee SiteAdvisor
McAfee SiteAdvisor tests and rates, on an ongoing basis, nearly every
trafficked site on the Internet. Site Advisor site ratings are created by
using patented advanced technology to conduct automated Web site tests. In
addition, as part of the user community forum function, users can provide
direct feedback to other users and to McAfee analysts regarding their
personal experience about the sites they visit on the Internet. McAfee
SiteAdvisor can be downloaded quickly and for free at
http://www.siteadvisor.com. McAfee SiteAdvisor works with Internet Explorer
and Firefox.
SiteAdvisor has received numerous honors, including: five-star reviews
from CNET's download.com, Time Magazine's "50 Coolest Web Sites," Popular
Science's "Best of What's New" and the U.S. Department of Commerce's
"Recognition of Excellence in Innovation" honor.
About McAfee, Inc.
McAfee, Inc., headquartered in Santa Clara, California, is the world's
largest dedicated security technology company. It delivers proactive and
proven solutions and services that secure systems and networks around the
world, allowing users to browse and shop the Web securely. With its
unmatched security expertise and commitment to innovation, McAfee empowers
home users, businesses, the public sector and service providers by enabling
them to comply with regulations, protect data, prevent disruptions,
identify vulnerabilities and continuously monitor and improve their
security. http://www.mcafee.com.
McAfee and/or other noted McAfee related products contained herein are
registered trademarks or trademarks of McAfee, Inc., and/or its affiliates
in the US and/or other countries. McAfee Red in connection with security is
distinctive of McAfee brand products. Any other non-McAfee related
products, registered and/or unregistered trademarks contained herein is
only by reference and are the sole property of their respective owners. (C)
2008 McAfee, Inc. All rights reserved.
SOURCE McAfee, Inc.
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Related links:
http://www.mcafee.com
CONTACT:
Leslie Murdock of McAfee, Inc.,
+1-408-346-3606, Leslie_murdock@mcafee.com; or Stuart Yeardsley
of Red Consultancy, +1-415-618-8814,
Stuart.yeardsley@redconsultancy.com, for McAfee, Inc.
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