.ie the safest web domain in Europe

Capt'n Midnight

http://www.siliconrepublic.com/news/article/14562/comms/ireland-has-the-safest-web-domain-in-europe

Ireland (.ie) has emerged as having the safest web domain address in Europe. Africa’s Cameroon (.cm) has overthrown Hong Kong (.hk) as the Web’s riskiest domain, according to McAfee’s third annual Mapping the Mal Web report

At the opposite end, Japan (.jp) is the safest country domain globally, landing in the top five safest domains for the second year in a row.

Ireland's .ie domain, which is managed by the IEDR, came second, followed by Croatia (.hr), Luxembourg (.lu) and Vanuatu (.vu).

The most heavily trafficked web domain in the world, commercial (.com), jumped from the ninth to second most dangerous domain, while government (.gov) is the safest non-country domain.

“This report underscores how quickly cybercriminals change tactics to lure in the most victims and avoid being caught. Last year, Hong Kong was the riskiest domain and this year it is dramatically safer,” said Mike Gallagher, chief technology officer for McAfee Labs.

“Cybercriminals target regions where registering sites is cheap and convenient, and pose the least risk of being caught.”

Cameroon, a small African country that borders Nigeria, jumped to the number one spot this year with 36.7pc of the .cm domain posing a security risk, but did not even make the list last year.

Because the domain .cm is a common typo for .com, many cybercriminals set up fake typo-squatting sites that lead to malicious downloads, spyware, adware and other potentially unwanted programs.

Following aggressive measures from .hk’s domain managers to clamp down on scam-related registrations last year, Hong Kong fell 33 spots from the most risky domain in 2008 to the 34th most risky domain in 2009. Now only 1.1pc of .hk sites pose a risk, whereas last year nearly one in five .hk web sites were risky.

Among country domains, the People’s Republic of China (.cn) and Samoa (.ws) remained in the top five most dangerous places in the last two years.

probe

Capt'n Midnight wrote: »

http://www.siliconrepublic.com/news/article/14562/comms/ireland-has-the-safest-web-domain-in-europe

McAfee found 65 risky .ie domains. Why don't they notify the registered owners to fix the problem and take them down if they fail to?

http://us.mcafee.com/en-us/local/docs/Mapping_Mal_Web_Summary.pdf

wolfric

Macafee is an anti virus not a criminal department. It's not their job nor do they have the jurisdiction to police others.
If a website is hosted in a country where it is illegal the government or similar police department can take it down. Otherwise they're free to do as they please. (I'm not sure but i'd say it'd be a some what similar situation with disabling a country domain (like .ie) that links to a malicious website. We don't really have the right or the ability to police the internet. We can stop stuff going down in our own countries though. Some countries can just block the sites off from being accessed like china does for example.

probe

wolfric wrote: »

Macafee is an anti virus not a criminal department. It's not their job nor do they have the jurisdiction to police others.
If a website is hosted in a country where it is illegal the government or similar police department can take it down. Otherwise they're free to do as they please. (I'm not sure but i'd say it'd be a some what similar situation with disabling a country domain (like .ie) that links to a malicious website. We don't really have the right or the ability to police the internet. We can stop stuff going down in our own countries though. Some countries can just block the sites off from being accessed like china does for example.

One suspects that everybody here knows that McAfee is an “anti-virus” company and has no authority to control the .ie domain.

Perhaps I should re-state in “legal lingo” for the avoidance of doubt.....

“McAfee Incorporated”, a Delaware corporation, whose corporate headquarters is 3965 Freedom Circle, Santa Clara, CA 95054, herein after called “McAfee” issued press releases to the international media, and is currently running a media campaign in its website at www.mcafee.com, and perhaps elsewhere, claiming among other things, that the .ie domain registry has 65 “risky domains”.

I am suggesting that “IE Domain Registry Limited”, a company incorporated in Ireland, whose “registered office” is 14 Windsor Terrace, Sandycove, in the County of Dublin, hereinafter called “IEDR”, who appear to have responsibility for the .ie domain on the internet, should contact McAfee requesting details of the 65 risky domains, including detailed evidence of their “riskiness”.

Upon receipt of such information, I further suggest that IEDR communicate in writing with the “risky” registered domain name holders, based on their (IEDR’s) evaluation of evidence provided by McAfee, requiring that they remove the risky aspects of their websites forthwith. In the absence of compliance within a time period prescribed by IEDR, I am suggesting that IEDR remove the domains in question from their database.

In the unlikely event that McAfee refuses to provide the requested information to IEDR, I am suggesting that IEDR should publish the fact that McAfee so refused, in their (ie the IEDR) website and elsewhere.

One would be of the opinion that if McAfee refuses to co-operate, they are simply engaged in a publicity stunt to promote McAfee’s products and services. Similarly if IEDR continue to allow the 65 alleged risky domains to remain active without taking action, IEDR is not doing its job properly, and may well be legally liable for any damage caused by malware being transmitted by any of the 65 websites in question.

With apologies for the tautology and legalese to those who understood the substance of my previous posting.