Last year, SWITCH fought malware on more than 1500 Swiss websites. Ninety-four percent of these were cleaned up – 81 percent within a single day. The registry for .ch and .li domain names sees this as highly positive and is continuing with its firm stand against malware in 2012.
In 2011, SWITCH contacted the holders and operators of 1547 websites that were spreading malware. The aim was to clean up manipulated .ch and .li websites as rapidly as possible so that the malware could not spread any further.
More websites cleaned up faster
Malware takes in malicious software, such as viruses, worms, Trojans or spyware. If websites are infected by malware, they can spread this malware themselves, unnoticed by operators and visitors. It is frequently enough to simply call up the manipulated website. In 2011, SWITCH contacted the holders and operators of manipulated websites in 1547 cases (see graphic). Eighty-one percent of the websites were cleaned up by the operators within a single working day, 13 percent were blocked by way of a precaution and then cleaned up. If no solution has been found after a domain name has been blocked for five days, it must be unblocked again. "Our excellent cooperation with the hosting providers has made a key contribution towards ensuring that scarcely any websites now have to be unblocked without having been cleaned up", says Marco D’Alessandro, media spokesman at SWITCH. Over the period from the first quarter to the fourth quarter of 2011, it proved possible to reduce the percentage of non-cleaned websites from 12 percent (56 websites) to less than one percent (3 websites) (see graphic).
Malware security: Switzerland No. 3 in the world
An average of 38 percent of all computers worldwide are infected with malware, as the PandaLabs* security company has established. In the current quarterly report*, Switzerland with an infection rate of just under 27 percent is in third place amongst the countries with the lowest number of infected computers. China is currently the country with the highest rate, at more than 62 percent. No easing of the situation regarding malware is to be expected. "Malicious programs are constantly further developing themselves", explains Serge Droz, Head of the Security Department at SWITCH. "This is why it is also important for the operators to rapidly clean up infected websites in 2012 too."
Attracting international attention
At present, Switzerland is still the only country which actively informs the operators of websites that are spreading malware. This efficient process is, however, attracting the interest of registries throughout the world. In Switzerland, the Security Department at SWITCH introduced the process on 25 November 2010. The legal basis for this process is provided by the Decree on Addressing Resources in the Telecommunications Sector (AEFV).
About SWITCH
As a non-profit organisation, SWITCH has been guaranteeing Switzerland’s access to the Internet for more than 20 years. One hundred employees work on a daily basis on further developing Internet technology, facilitating the exchange of knowledge for Swiss universities and increasing the security of the Internet in Switzerland. In 2012, the Internet service provider with its head office in Zurich will be celebrating its 25th anniversary.  In 2011, the website operators in question were able to clean up 94 percent of all the websites spreading malware. The number of successful cleanups rose steadily: in the 4th quarter only three websites (< 1%) had to be unblocked without being cleaned up. In the 1st quarter, the figure was 56 websites (12 %). |
