E-Business
Almost Half of World’s Top Websites Risky – Report
Nearly half (46%) of the Internet’s top one million Web sites, as ranked by Alexa, are risky.
This is according to a study released yesterday by US-based cyber security firm Menlo Security, which notes this is largely due to vulnerable software running on Web servers and on underlying ad network domains.
The firm says the results are significant because risky sites have never been easier to exploit, and traditional security products fail to provide adequate protection.
Attackers have their veritable choice of half the Web to exploit, allowing them to launch phishing attacks from legitimate sites, it notes.
Menlo Security considers a site risky if the homepage or associated background sites are running vulnerable software, if the site is ‘known-bad’, or if it has had a security incident in the past 12 months.
Vulnerable software was the leading factor in classifying a site as risky, it points out. Of the one million sites, 355 804 were either running vulnerable software or accessing background domains running vulnerable software; 166 853 fell into known-bad categories; while 31 938 experienced a recent security incident.
Another key finding was that background requests sending content to Web browsers outnumber user requests at a ratio of 25:1.
The culprit sites found in the study include destinations that are widely unknown by name; however, these large ad service networks are found hidden behind the world’s most visited media sites and include sites for 24-hour news, weather sites and major metro newspapers.
“Browsing the Web is a leap into the unknown. We already knew that ad networks present risk to the public and businesses, but the extreme levels reached in 2016, affecting 46% of the most visited Web sites, mean that enterprises must address the problem,” says Kowsik Guruswamy, CTO at Menlo Security.
Greg Maudsley, senior director of product marketing, and Jason Steer, solutions architect, EMEA at Menlo Security, point out that risk is not just associated with the sites that users visit. Each site a user visits generates requests to on average 25 requests to background Web sites, such as social media and advertising.
They explain business and economy Web sites feature highly when the information is sliced all ways for risky issues (third highest for known-bad sites, highest for domains associated with recent threat history, and highest for sites with known vulnerable software), but almost all businesses would not block access to business and economy, leading many businesses into a false sense of security and more cyber incidents to deal with.
The security experts say uncategorised Web sites are the highest type of sites associated with being known-bad, followed by adult and pornography as well as business and economy. Vulnerable software was found to be 16 years old in the one million subset.
Menlo Security notes today, exploit kits are readily available to anyone, as are the instructional videos that provide step-by-step execution instructions.
The expertise requirement has all but vanished. Underscoring this point, the average age of suspected cyber attackers dropped from 24 to 17.
Compounding the issue, it says the vast majority of malware prevention products attempt to prevent attacks by distinguishing between “good” and “bad” elements, and then implement policies intended to allow “good” content and block the “bad”.
In every case, the firm explains, the detection is never perfect, and thus the policy choice involves a level of risk that the wrong decision is being made. Additionally, enterprises regularly allow access to popular Web sites for the sake of productivity. Given the risk associated with nearly half of popular sites, a Web security strategy based on categorisation is effectively useless, says Menlo Security.
It adds although traditional phishing attacks involve the creation of a new imposter, or “spoofed” site, the sheer volume of vulnerable trusted sites makes it very easy for attackers to compromise a legitimate site and send that link as part of a phishing campaign.
With this approach, the firm notes, attackers no longer need to worry that URL filtering will thwart their efforts, and they avoid anomalies in the link address, such as misspellings, special characters, or numbers that might raise suspicions.
Clicking on what is a perfectly legitimate link within such a phishing e-mail can expose a user to a drive-by malware exploit that could deliver ransomware, or mark the beginning of a larger breach.
Risk mitigation
To mitigate the risks, Maudsley and Steer recommend new threat prevention techniques, such as isolation and remote browsing.
They add Web site owners should make sure they are running up-to-date software, patch vulnerable software, and ensure only trusted resource files are loaded from third-party servers. Users should use browser extensions and plugins that stop execution of JavaScript, stop using Flash altogether, and use Adblockers to block ads on sites where possible, they note.
Gartner recommends isolation as part of its adaptive security architecture – this approach does not try to distinguish between good and bad, but assumes all active content is risky.
President Bola Tinubu has directed the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) to ensure that every Nigerian is enrolled in the national identity database before the end of 2026, according to Abisoye Coker-Odusote, director general and chief executive officer of the agency.
Abisoye Coker-Odusote, director general and chief executive officer, NIMC
Coker-Odusote, who appeared on Channels Television, said the directive forms part of the federal government’s efforts to establish a comprehensive national identity system capable of supporting effective governance, planning, and service delivery.
“The President has given us till the end of this year to make sure that we capture every single Nigerian,” she said.
According to her, NIMC is working with partners under the World Bank-supported Identification for Development (ID4D) project to accelerate nationwide enrolment.
“What we have done is we have partnered through the World Bank ID4D project with front-end partners. They are part of the digital identity ecosystem. These are private citizens that we’ve enabled and given jobs to enrol citizens on our behalf,” she explained.
She stressed that the National Identification Number (NIN) remains a unique identifier, ensuring that every individual is registered only once.
“That’s why it’s called a unique identifier, so that you’re only enrolled once,” the NIMC DG added.
Coker-Odusote said Nigeria’s actual population remains uncertain, with estimates ranging from 200 million to 250 million, making a comprehensive identity database essential for national planning.
“It is estimated that we’re 200 million. When we’re done enrolling, we will then know the actual numbers that we have. Some estimates say 230 million, while a few people say 250 million.
“Your identity is basically the foundation for effective governance and service delivery. How can you plan if you don’t know the total number of persons that you have? We have been mandated by Mr President to go down to the community levels to enrol every single Nigerian”, she said.
Responding to concerns about whether an individual could obtain multiple identities by registering in different locations or under different names, the NIMC boss said the commission’s biometric verification system prevents such occurrences.
She explained that while the previous system could accept duplicate enrolments before detecting them later, the current process automatically identifies and invalidates multiple registrations.
“The legacy system had no way of verifying at the front end whether you had already been captured. Once the record comes into the system, it flags it as a duplicate or that the person already exists in the database.
“You would only have one identity generated for you. The other record goes into a deduplication bucket where it is invalidated,” she said.
The NIMC DG added that biometric verification, including fingerprints and facial recognition, makes it virtually impossible for one person to maintain multiple identities.
“Absolutely. One of the things that this Act has done is to cement our role in capturing biometrics. Private and public sector organisations will no longer capture biometrics independently. They will validate identities through API integration with NIMC.
“The telcos are already doing that with us. If you need a SIM card, they capture your facial biometrics, which are matched against our database in real time to confirm that you are who you claim to be. We’re using biometric validation to tighten security around identity confirmation,” she said.
The remarks come weeks after Tinubu signed the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) Act 2026 into law on June 26, repealing the 2007 legislation.
The new law reinforces the “One Person, One Identity” policy by making the NIN the country’s foundational identity credential for accessing government and essential private services, including banking, passport applications, tax administration, pensions, land transactions, and consumer credit.
It also introduces stiffer penalties for identity theft, multiple registrations and unauthorised access to personal identity data, while strengthening data privacy protections and granting NIMC wider powers to investigate identity-related offences.
Cybersecurity and privacy experts are raising concerns around the growing trend of sports fans using generative AI to create World Cup-related images, mock-ups, predictions and social media content.
Whilst offering new ways for supporters to engage with major sporting events, these tools also introduce risks that many users may underestimate. In light of this, Kaspersky has shared the key risks fans should keep in mind when using generative AI tools, so they can continue enjoying the championship with peace of mind.
When fan AI goes rogue. A growing number of AI tools are being used to create World Cup-themed visuals, avatars, memes and other fan content. While these services may seem creative and harmless, not all of them come from trusted providers.
Many are launched quickly to capitalise on interest around major events, increasing the likelihood that users will interact with platforms that offer limited transparency around data handling, lack adequate privacy and security measures, or might even be designed with malicious intent.
Personal data at stake. To create customised World Cup content, users are often asked to upload selfies, sign up with an email address, connect social media accounts or share other personal information. In doing so, they may reveal more information than necessary without fully understanding how that data will be stored, used, or potentially exposed.
“AI-driven fan content may seem harmless, but one of the key privacy risks is that users are often encouraged to share far more personal information than necessary. A simple request to generate a themed avatar can involve the collection of photos, contact details, account data and behavioural insights – information that may later be insufficiently protected.
“Because major global events often create an ideal environment for opportunistic actors, fans should take a closer look at how these tools manage personal data before engaging with them,” says Anna Larkina, web content analysis and privacy expert at Kaspersky.
When fan content becomes a scam. AI-generated World Cup content in some cases can also be used to support fraud. Cybercriminals may use convincing mock-ups, fake giveaways, or official-looking fan pages to attract attention and build trust. Once users engage, they may be redirected to phishing sites, fake stores, fraudulent offers, or betting-related scams. Generative AI makes these campaigns easier to produce, more persuasive and far easier to scale.
The myth of AI predictions. Another area that deserves caution is AI-powered match prediction. However advanced or data-driven these tools may appear, AI cannot reliably predict inherently uncertain sporting outcomes. When used to promote betting, paid subscriptions or “insider communities”, such services can create a false sense of confidence and encourage risky decisions.
Multi-asset global broker JustMarkets has launched its Web Terminal, an advanced browser-based trading terminal now available to all clients in any country supported by the broker.
JustMarkets
The company said the new platform forms part of its ongoing effort to expand and strengthen its trading ecosystem. Before the official launch, the Web Terminal went through a preparation phase during which the team fine-tuned its technical performance and gathered user feedback.
“At JustMarkets, we never stop evolving,” a JustMarkets representative said. “With the Web Terminal, we wanted to remove every barrier between traders and the markets. Now every client can trade directly from their browser, with all the professional tools they need at their fingertips.”
The Web Terminal is fully available for MT5 accounts, allowing traders to access a professional trading environment without downloading or installing any software. The broker said the platform runs entirely in the browser, enabling clients to start trading instantly from any device.
To access the terminal, users are required to choose a trading account, press the “Trade” button, and then select “JustMarkets Terminal” from the window that appears.
The broker said the platform includes advanced charts with technical indicators and graphical tools, flexible volume settings that allow trade volume to be set in lots or in units of the asset, detailed asset descriptions, a market sentiment tool that provides real-time trading sentiment, timely updates on trading schedules and margin changes, and tools for managing multiple trading positions and pending orders.
According to the company, the launch follows the introduction of the JustMarkets mobile app for trading on the go and represents another step in its broader innovation strategy.
JustMarkets said it remains committed to growth and has additional features, tools, and improvements already in development.
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