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Sophos, a world leader in IT security and control, has announced the results of its research into worldwide cybercrime activity during the first three months of 2007. The findings reveal that the overall number of new pieces of malware has grown dramatically, with the majority of malicious code writers selecting the web as its playground of choice.

In the first quarter of 2007, Sophos identified 23,864 new threats - more than double the number found in the same period last year when the company identified 9,450. At the same time, the percentage of infected email has dropped from 1.3 percent, or one in 77 emails in the first three months of 2006, to one in 256, or just 0.4 percent in 2007.

Infected websites pose greatest threat

From January to the end of March, Sophos identified an average of 5,000 new infected webpages every day, indicating that this route to infection is becoming more popular with cybercriminals. With computer users becoming increasingly aware of how to protect against email-aware viruses and malware, hackers have turned to the web as their preferred vector of attack.

The top ten malware families hosted on websites in Q1 2007 were as follows:

Not all of the infected websites were created by the hackers themselves. Sophos has found that the majority, 70 percent, were bonafide websites that were vulnerable to attack because they were unpatched, poorly coded or had not been maintained by their owners. A further 12.8 percent were hosting malicious script while Windows malware was responsible for infecting 10.7 percent. Adware was found on 4.8 percent of these pages and porn diallers on 1.1 percent.

The most high profile website infection of the quarter happened in February when hackers placed malicious script, identified as Mal/Packer, on the official Miami Dolphins website. The American football team was due to host the Super Bowl the weekend after this happened, so its site was an extremely popular destination for web surfers at the time. Sophos points out that attacks like these outline the fact that any site, regardless of subject matter, can fall victim and infect innocent visitors if it is not properly protected. Sophos recommends that businesses deploy web security solutions that not only filter based on website categorisation, but that properly inspect the code of every website before granting access.

In another incident in March this year, cybercriminals used spam campaigns to lure users to hacked sites in an attempt to sell goods. Legitimate websites with PHP vulnerabilities were hacked, redirecting visitors to a pharmaceutical store selling drugs. By using legitimate URLs in their spam messages, they were able to avoid less sophisticated spam filters, and when the victim clicked on the link they went to a genuine website only to then be automatically redirected to the hackers' site.

"What's most worrying is that so many websites are falling victim because the owners are failing to properly maintain them and keep up to date with their patches," explained Carole Theriault, senior security consultant at Sophos. "The average internet user assumes sites like the Miami Dolphins homepage are safe to access, but by targeting a whole range of internet pages, hackers are successfully infecting a larger number of unwary surfers. Any ill-maintained website can fall victim."

Web-based malware hosting countries

The top ten countries hosting web-based malware in Q1 2007 were as follows:

The first quarter of 2007 has seen the UK, now responsible for hosting three percent of infected websites, enter this chart for the first time at number six. There has also been a dramatic increase in the number of hacked sites hosted by China, which is now responsible for hosting over a third of all web-based malware, taking top position from the United States that led the chart at the end of 2006.

"China has traditionally had a bad reputation when it comes to cybercrime, consistently coming in the top two spam relaying countries month after month, so its position in this chart should come as no real surprise," explained Theriault. "What's more, China is leading the new internet revolution with a staggering number of individuals claiming website addictions. Given these rich pickings, it's hardly a shock that hackers are focusing their efforts here."

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Five percent of world's spam sent via a single Polish ISP

Earlier this month, Sophos revealed that there was a surprise newcomer to the dirty dozen spam relaying countries. Having never made an appearance in this chart previously, Poland made a dramatic entry at number three and was responsible for relaying 7.4 percent of all the world's spam. Sophos's research shows that one single ISP is largely responsible for Poland's position as one of the world's principal spammers. From January to March 2007, one in 20 of all spam messages worldwide was sent via Polish Telecom.

"The fact that one average-sized Polish ISP is single-handedly responsible for relaying five percent of the world's spam is astonishing - which is why we are currently in talks with them on how they can reduce this glut of unwanted mail," continued Theriault. "Spam is a difficult problem to solve as every government legislates differently and the responsibility of the ISPs varies from place to place. There are also market demands that often pressure ISPs to lower prices rather than invest into processes to clean up their output."

In total, the amount of spam relayed in Q1 2007 has increased by 4.2 percent over the same period last year.