March Threats: Four Newcomers in Top Ten Global Malware Stats; Security Blog Exposed to Malware

For the  fourth month in a row, HTML/ScrInject.B continues to dominate malware statistics based on
ESET Live Grid® - a cloud-based malware collection system utilizing data from users of ESET solutions worldwide. Its recorded global infection rate was 5.60% globally (6.20% in Europe), up in both instances. INF/Autorun was the number two threat with 5.19% rate of infection (third in Europe with 4.38%), 
with a strong rebound as well. Number three malware worldwide was HTML/Iframe with 3.95%
(number two in Europe with 4.66%).
HTML/ScrInject.B is a  generic detection of HTML web pages containing an obfuscated script or iframe tag that  automatically redirects the user to the malware download, while INF/Autorun represents a variety of malware using the file autorun.inf as a way of compromising a PC. This file contains information on programs meant to run automatically when removable media (often USB flash drives) are accessed by a Windows PC user. HTML/Iframe.B denotes a generic detection of malicious IFRAME tags embedded in HTML pages, which redirect the browser to a specific URL location containing malicious software.
This month, there were four newcomers into to the global top ten:  JS/Agent and JS/IFrame (both with more than 2% infection rate) and  both trojans. JS/Agent is a generic detection name for various kinds of malicious JavaScripts found on compromised webpages. JS/Iframe redirects the browser to a specific URL location loaded with malicious software. The program code of this forms of  malware is usually embedded in HTML pages. Other newcomers are Win32/Sirefef - a trojan that redirects results of online search engines to web sites that contain adware; and JS/Redirector trojan that redirects the browser to a specific URL location with malicious software.

Global Threats According to ESET Live Grid® Statistics (March 2012)Threats in Europe According to ESET Live Grid® Statistics (March 2012)
JS/IFrame and JS/Agent both  made the  news on security blogs last month. "Even visiting security-oriented websites can sometimes be risky. If you’ve visited the security blog zerosecurity.org in March and you are also a user of ESET’s security products, you might have encountered an anti-virus alert," says ESET Security Intelligence Team Lead Robert Lipovsky. "Typically, these techniques are used in drive-by downloads, where a user ends up inadvertently and unknowingly downloading and running malicious code when browsing a (even legitimate) website," he adds. It should be noted, that the administrator of zerosecurity.org responded very promptly after being contacted by ESET and removed the malicious code from the websites. "Similar compromises can happen to any of us and, as has been documented before, they occasionally do. The most probable explanation for this particular case would be WordPress exploitation, which has been on the rise recently," concludes Lipovsky.

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About ESET Live Grid®

ESET Live Grid® is ESET’s cloud-based malware collection system utilizing data from users of ESET solutions worldwide. This continual streaming of information provides ESET Malware Lab specialists with real-time accurate snapshot of the nature and scope of global infiltrations. Careful analysis of the threats, attack vectors and patterns serves ESET to fine-tune all heuristic and signature updates ̶ to protect its users against tomorrow’s threats.

About ESET

Founded in 1992, ESET is a global provider of security solutions for businesses and consumers. The Company pioneered, and continues to lead, the industry in proactive threat detection. ESET NOD32 Antivirus holds the world record for the number of Virus Bulletin "VB100” Awards, and has never missed a single “In-the-Wild” worm or virus since the inception of testing in 1998. ESET NOD32 Antivirus, ESET Smart Security and ESET Cybersecurity for Mac are trusted by millions of global users and are among the most recommended security solutions in the world. The Company has global headquarters in Bratislava (Slovakia), with regional distribution centers in San Diego (U.S.), Buenos Aires (Argentina), and Singapore. ESET has malware research centers in Bratislava, San Diego, Buenos Aires, Prague (Czech Republic), Krakow (Poland), Montreal (Canada), Moscow (Russia), and an extensive partner network for 180 countries.