Beware of Online Drive-by Download Attacks

Drive-by download attacks are the latest threat to plague web users. The term is used to describe malware and virus infections whereby your PC is infected simply by visiting a malicious webpage, without you actually having to click on any links in order to initiate the infection – the malicious site will download infected files to your PC without you even noticing. It is now becoming clear that even legitimate websites can be infected with drive-by download attacks, through an exploit called cross-site scripting, so even if you believe the website you are visiting is unlikely to be harboring viruses, and belongs to a reputable organization, it could still infect your PC.

One of the most prolific cross-site scripting exploits, called JSRedir-R, accounts for nearly half of all infected websites. It works by using hidden Javascript code that tries to exploit weaknesses in your web browser to infect your PC. Turning off Javascript in your browser will thwart the attack, but will also mean a great many sites that rely on Javascript no longer work.

To keep yourself safe, we recommend that you keep your anti-virus software up to date, and upgrade your web browser to Internet Explorer 8, which includes new security features to protect against cross-site scripting exploits.

You can download IE8 here >>>>

Internet Explorer 8

You could also install an alternative web browser such as Firefox which you can down load here >>>

Firefox Web Browser

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