Survey Highlights Webmasters' Struggles with Hacked Sites

  • Feb 28, 2012

StopBadware and Commtouch recently published a joint report titled "Compromised Websites: An Owner's Perspective" that chronicles webmasters' experiences with hacked websites. The report presents statistics and opinions on how site owners navigate the process of learning their sites have been hacked and repairing the damage. The report's findings are based on a survey Commtouch and StopBadware designed and offered to website owners and webmasters over the course of several months.

Data from the poll reveals that malicious actors are often able to compromise legitimate websites without the site owners' knowledge: more than 90 percent of respondents didn't notice any strange activity, despite the fact that their sites were being abused to send spam, host phishing pages, or distribute malware. Nearly two-thirds of the webmasters surveyed didn't know how the compromise had happened.

Other highlights from analysis of the survey's responses include:

  • About half of site owners discovered the hack when they attempted to visit their own site and received a browser or search engine warning.
  • 26 percent of site owners had not yet figured out how to resolve the problem at the time they completed the survey.
  • 40 percent of survey respondents changed their opinion of their web hosting provider following a compromise.

"Cybercriminals can significantly improve their open and click-through rates by distributing badware via legitimate domains. Many site owners are either unaware of the compromise or struggle to remove the infection, which directly contributes to the persistence of, and increase in active badware URLs." said Amir Lev, Commtouch's chief technology officer. "Commtouch does its part to protect end-users, enterprises and service providers from compromised sites with a range of cloud-based email security, Web filtering and antivirus tools."

"The survey results highlighted several aspects of webmasters' experience with site compromise that may prove eye-opening for the security community," said StopBadware Executive Director Maxim Weinstein. "There's a lack of clarity for webmasters about who's responsible for site security and where to turn when a website is compromised. Webmasters and the wider Internet community therefore benefit from continual efforts aimed at educating them about their responsibilities and those of their hosting providers."

Featured

  • Improve Incident Response With Intelligent Cloud Video Surveillance

    Video surveillance is a vital part of business security, helping institutions protect against everyday threats for increased employee, customer, and student safety. However, many outdated surveillance solutions lack the ability to offer immediate insights into critical incidents. This slows down investigations and limits how effectively teams can respond to situations, creating greater risks for the organization. Read Now

  • Security Today Announces 2025 CyberSecured Award Winners

    Security Today is pleased to announce the 2025 CyberSecured Awards winners. Sixteen companies are being recognized this year for their network products and other cybersecurity initiatives that secure our world today. Read Now

  • Empowering and Securing a Mobile Workforce

    What happens when technology lets you work anywhere – but exposes you to security threats everywhere? This is the reality of modern work. No longer tethered to desks, work happens everywhere – in the office, from home, on the road, and in countless locations in between. Read Now

  • TSA Introduces New $45 Fee Option for Travelers Without REAL ID Starting February 1

    The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) announced today that it will refer all passengers who do not present an acceptable form of ID and still want to fly an option to pay a $45 fee to use a modernized alternative identity verification system, TSA Confirm.ID, to establish identity at security checkpoints beginning on February 1, 2026. Read Now

  • The Evolution of IP Camera Intelligence

    As the 30th anniversary of the IP camera approaches in 2026, it is worth reflecting on how far we have come. The first network camera, launched in 1996, delivered one frame every 17 seconds—not impressive by today’s standards, but groundbreaking at the time. It did something that no analog system could: transmit video over a standard IP network. Read Now

Most   Popular

New Products

  • A8V MIND

    A8V MIND

    Hexagon’s Geosystems presents a portable version of its Accur8vision detection system. A rugged all-in-one solution, the A8V MIND (Mobile Intrusion Detection) is designed to provide flexible protection of critical outdoor infrastructure and objects. Hexagon’s Accur8vision is a volumetric detection system that employs LiDAR technology to safeguard entire areas. Whenever it detects movement in a specified zone, it automatically differentiates a threat from a nonthreat, and immediately notifies security staff if necessary. Person detection is carried out within a radius of 80 meters from this device. Connected remotely via a portable computer device, it enables remote surveillance and does not depend on security staff patrolling the area.

  • PE80 Series

    PE80 Series by SARGENT / ED4000/PED5000 Series by Corbin Russwin

    ASSA ABLOY, a global leader in access solutions, has announced the launch of two next generation exit devices from long-standing leaders in the premium exit device market: the PE80 Series by SARGENT and the PED4000/PED5000 Series by Corbin Russwin. These new exit devices boast industry-first features that are specifically designed to provide enhanced safety, security and convenience, setting new standards for exit solutions. The SARGENT PE80 and Corbin Russwin PED4000/PED5000 Series exit devices are engineered to meet the ever-evolving needs of modern buildings. Featuring the high strength, security and durability that ASSA ABLOY is known for, the new exit devices deliver several innovative, industry-first features in addition to elegant design finishes for every opening.

  • Luma x20

    Luma x20

    Snap One has announced its popular Luma x20 family of surveillance products now offers even greater security and privacy for home and business owners across the globe by giving them full control over integrators’ system access to view live and recorded video. According to Snap One Product Manager Derek Webb, the new “customer handoff” feature provides enhanced user control after initial installation, allowing the owners to have total privacy while also making it easy to reinstate integrator access when maintenance or assistance is required. This new feature is now available to all Luma x20 users globally. “The Luma x20 family of surveillance solutions provides excellent image and audio capture, and with the new customer handoff feature, it now offers absolute privacy for camera feeds and recordings,” Webb said. “With notifications and integrator access controlled through the powerful OvrC remote system management platform, it’s easy for integrators to give their clients full control of their footage and then to get temporary access from the client for any troubleshooting needs.”