Middle East websites are more vulnerable

Dubai: Middle Eastern countries are becoming more vulnerable to web virus threats as the number of internet users grows, a web security expert said.

Botnets are responsible for more than 80 per cent of the world's spam and generate click fraud in excess of $1 billion (Dh3.67 billion) a year, said David Perry, global director of education at Trend Micro.

He said the Middle East is the fastest growing region globally but it has a low penetration rate of 17.4 per cent.

"Yet we face all the same difficulties as the rest of the world," Perry said, adding that the average penetration rate for top 36 countries worldwide is 65.1 per cent.

Quoting a Miniwatts Marketing Group's report, he said the total internet users in the Middle East as of 2007 are only a mere 34 million but the growth between 2000 and 2007 was 920.2 per cent, which is the highest in the world when compared to the global average of 265.6 per cent.

"As our economies grow so does the threat taxonomy," he said.

Web-based threats have grown more than 600 per cent in the last 24 months, something that is seen as more than a trend. The threat is seen as more organised and structured.

According to the Miniwatts report, hackers are intensifying their attacks on legitimate websites.

The numbers of compromised websites are slowly outnumbering malicious ones created specifically by cyber criminals. Perry said it debunks the adage to "not visit questionable sites" because even trusted websites such as those belonging to top companies, schools and government organisations can hold malware.