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Canada has landed in the Top 10 but it’s not the kind of list most would be excited to be on. A rise in malicious websites has rocketed the Great White North to a prominent place on the 2013 Cybercrime Report Card, released annually by IT security firm Websense. In fact, Websense identifies Canada as 10th in the world when it comes to the number of malware hosting websites. It’s something that’s increased 25 percent over the last year. The study’s authors point to a number of factors for the continued growth, including webmasters with inadequate security on their machines or vulnerable content management platforms. The Top 10 sites hosting malware around the world are: 1. United States 2. Russian Federation 3. Germany 4. China 5. Isle of Man 6. Ireland 7. United Kingdom 8. France 9. Czech Republic 10. Canada “It could also be the result of a hosting company or ISP compromise, which is most likely why the Isle of Man is ranked No. 5 on the list,” says the study, of possible causes for the increase in malware. What’s even worse is that Canada is in third place when it comes to hosting advanced malware, a vicious type most often used in corporate espionage. It even places ahead of countries like Korea, Germany, Russia and China. Large companies aren’t the only ones on the radar – malware attacks are hitting smaller corporations just as hard. Bot networks – which direct malware through command and control servers (C&C) – are also increasing in Canada, jumping 83 percent for an international rank of eighth place. Identifying C&C servers is a crucial part of cracking down on malware. According to the study, about 50 percent of malware connects to a C&C server within a minute of infection. While it may be noticeable if a computer is communicating with a foreign IP address, it’s not as obvious when it is connecting with a computer on home soil, which allows hackers to carry out their deeds without detection. There is one bright sign in the study. It appears that phishing sites, which crooks use in an attempt to gather sensitive personal information or access computer systems for nefarious purposes, have decreased in Canada by 67 percent. However, Canada still ranks fourth in the world for hosting these types of sites. But why is Canada such a popular destination for cybercriminals? There are a variety of reasons, says Websense, namely that Canada has good infrastructure and a squeaky clean reputation in the world of online attacks, and hackers are using it to their advantage. Canadian laws also come into play. “There seems to be a lack of call to action,” says Websense.
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