Hundreds of UK School, University and Government Websites Hacked

Hundreds of UK government operated websites have been hacked in a recent attempt to include links and references to illegitimate websites that sell cialis, viagra and hardcore pornography.

This is not the first time something of this nature has taken place. Hackers have even compromised websites to capitalize on the Swine Flu in order to pitch bogus medications in the past. In the recent case, several UK based websites including those of schools, local government, Forestry Commission and others, were hacked via several exploits. Some of the exploits used to hack into the legitimate sites are comprised of site scripting and the exploitation of loopholes in sites using outdated or poorly designed software.

Computer users who may use a search engine to seek information on cialas, Viagra or the entertainment of pornography, may be infected with malware if they visit a UK based web page that has been compromised. Recent hacking occurrences are aimed at these websites that hackers use to flood Google search results, which could ultimately lead computer users to dangerous links or malware downloads.

Government websites usually get good placement on Google search results so hackers are using similar websites to attack because they are already trusted on search engines. In other words, this saves a hacker from creating a malicious site from scratch and having to obtain decent search engine placement.

The use of Cross-site scripting (XSS) has enabled hackers to inject malicious code into various legitimate web pages that are viewed by a large number of users. About 80% of all documented security vulnerabilities carried out on websites as of 2007, are a result of cross-site scripting.

What is being done about this?

UK government agencies are aware of possibility of their websites being attacked. Where they will take the immediate action to resolve the issues is in question. The UK government or .gov.uk domains, are not the only ones limited to the attacks. A large number of .ac.uk websites, which is a domain reserved for academic organizations such as schools and colleges, are targeted as well.

It may be the case where a government agency or institution is presented with a lawsuit before anything is actually done to complexly resolve this issue. Hackers will always continue to attack vulnerable websites. In response to that, webmasters can always take the necessary actions and precautions to fight that attacks. It is possible that it boils down to the agencies not wanted to spend the funds and time needed to fix a corrupted PC.

The hacked pages remain to show up on search engine search results. Until action is taken by the owners of many of these sites, they will continue to spread infections.