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.
Nigeria has taken a major step toward strengthening its digital governance framework as the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) officially assumes control of the Nigeria Government Enterprise Architecture (NGEA) infrastructure.
The handover ceremony held in Abuja, marks the culmination of a high-level partnership with the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA).
This transition signals a shift from fragmented IT projects to a unified, disciplined approach to national digital investment.
The NGEA initiative forms a core part of the e-Government Masterplan 2.0 (Ne-GMP 2.0), aimed at establishing a unified and structured approach to managing government IT investments and digital resources.
The framework is designed to ensure that technology deployment across public institutions aligns with national priorities while improving efficiency and accountability.
With the system now operational, government agencies are expected to adopt more integrated digital processes, allowing seamless data sharing and interoperability.
This is anticipated to reduce duplication, strengthen risk management, and translate policy objectives into measurable digital outcomes.
Over the past two and a half years, Nigerian technical experts worked closely with their Korean counterparts to develop the architecture framework, create reference models, and execute pilot programmes in key institutions.
These include the National Identity Management Commission, Nigeria Customs Service, Nigeria Immigration Service, and NITDA.
Officials say the NGEA represents a shift from fragmented digital efforts to a more coordinated, citizen-focused system.
The infrastructure is hosted by Galaxy Backbone Limited, providing a secure and reliable platform for nationwide deployment.
Looking ahead, NITDA is expected to work with government stakeholders to expand and sustain the system, while the Federal Ministry of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy will provide policy guidance to ensure its adoption across the country.
Bosun Tijani, minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, has said the government is shifting focus from expanding access to ensuring “meaningful connectivity” that drives economic growth and inclusion.
Bosun Tijani, minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy
The minister made the statement on Friday while addressing stakeholders at the inauguration of board members of the Universal Service Provision Fund (USPF) in Abuja.
He said that although Nigeria had made significant progress since the introduction of GSM services, millions of people, particularly in rural and underserved communities, remain either unconnected or unable to fully benefit from digital services.
Dr Tijani highlighted ongoing investments in digital infrastructure, including plans to deploy 90,000 kilometres of fibre optic network and nearly 4,000 telecom towers nationwide.
He said initiatives under the USPF had improved access through projects such as rural connectivity and digital facilities in schools but stressed that the next phase must prioritise effective usage.
“It is not enough to connect a community. We must ensure that schools can teach with digital tools and that small businesses can access market opportunities,” he said, citing a pilot project in the Kura community where connectivity has enhanced access to communication, education and healthcare.
Aminu Maida, executive vice chairman, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) also called for a shift towards meaningful connectivity, noting that while data usage had grown significantly, it remained concentrated in urban areas.
According to him, recent data shows that telecom usage has increased by about 160% over the past two years, largely driven by urban demand.
“When we drill down, we see that a lot of that growth is actually in urban centres. So, the gap between those who are not connected or not meaningfully connected is growing,” he said.
Dr Maida added that the trend underscored the need for the USPF board to intensify efforts to bridge both access and usage gaps across the country.
Both officials emphasised the importance of collaboration, sustainable investment models and improved digital literacy to ensure that connectivity translates into real economic benefits for Nigerians.
A jury in Los Angeles has found technology companies, Meta and Google liable for contributing to a young woman’s social media addiction, in a case being described as a landmark ruling.
The 20-year-old woman, identified only as Kaley, argued that she became addicted to Google’s YouTube and Meta’s Instagram from an early age due to their attention-driven design features.
According to her testimony, she began using YouTube at the age of six after downloading the app on her iPod Touch to watch videos about lip gloss and online games.
Kaley told the court that she joined Instagram at nine, bypassing parental restrictions put in place by her mother, and spent extended periods on social media.
The trial, which lasted about a month, with arguments and evidence from both sides.
Jurors also heard testimony from Mark Zuckerberg, chief executive, Meta and Adam Mosseri, Instagram head.
However, Neal Mohan, YouTube chief executive, did not testify.
The jury found that the companies were negligent in the design of their platforms and failed to adequately warn users about potential harms. Meta and Google were ordered to pay the woman $3 million in damages.
Jurors also recommended additional punitive damages, including $900,000 against YouTube and $2.1 million against Meta, according to company spokespersons.
The jury apportioned 70 per cent of the responsibility to Meta and 30 per cent to YouTube.
Kaley was present in the courtroom when the verdict was delivered, alongside parents of other teenagers who say they were harmed by social media use. Both companies said they plan to appeal the decision.
“We respectfully disagree with the verdict and will appeal. Teen mental health is profoundly complex and cannot be linked to a single app. We will continue to defend ourselves vigorously as every case is different, and we remain confident in our record of protecting teens online”, a Meta spokesperson said.
José Castañeda, Google spokesperson, said the case misunderstands YouTube, which is a responsibly built streaming platform, not a social media site.
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