The level of malware attacks where the site browser is automatically redirected to infected websites has surged in recent months.
In addition to well-reported attacks on social networking sites like Facebook, unwary users browsing legitimate websites have been hit.
The Sydney Morning Herald (1/12/09) reports that retailer JB Hi Fi's Australian and New Zealand websites, hosted on the same server, were being "clickjacked" (highjacked by clicking on a link) through to Chinese websites carrying malware.
WebGuard users would have seen a pop-up screen alerting to the security issue if they clicked on the page; but many unwary Christmas shoppers may have been infected without even knowing.
Other legitimate sites including discussion forum Whirlpool and OzBargain.com.au had users report redirections to the same malicious page.
Overclockers, an online community for computer enthusiasts has also been reported as offline "due to technical issues" and their users have been asked to change passwords due to a security scare.
Whirlpool suffered its own security scare last week and, like Overclockers, advised users to change their online passwords as some user data could have been compromised.
It has been suggested that JB Hi-Fi's website suffered infection after hackers broke into the server used to display ads on the website. That server has since been taken down, but it is impossible to know how many computers may have been infected before this occurred.
MailGuard's own stats show that cybercriminals are now increasingly targeting legitimate websites, injecting malware designed to harvest personal data and achieve financial gain. It makes sense to target high profile, high traffic sites and maximize the opportunity for infection and profits.