New bots, more badware sites?

In recent weeks, a new worm known as Conficker/Downadup has been making the rounds, turning many (reportedly millions) of PCs into bots. At the same time, the number of badware sites Google has reported to us has been steadily increasing, from around 145,000 a couple months ago to around 183,000 now.

Are these related or just a spurious correlation? It’s hard to be sure. Google has been known to tweak its systems, sometimes leading to a significant increase or decrease in the number of reported hosts without any change in external conditions. On the other hand, it seems very possible that there is a direct link. If you’re a malware author looking to quickly spread a worm, compromising a bunch of websites and turning them into unwitting distributors of the worm is an effective weapon in your arsenal. And, of course, the botnet itself, as it grows, can be used to help infect even more sites.

Do you have more information on this question? Let us know at BadwareBusters.org.