Search and viral and social media sites continue to be infiltrated - or rather, inundated - by spam and malware. The latest study to capture this activity is by Websense, which found in its bi-annual report that as much as 13.7% of searches for trending news and buzz words led to malware.

It is a reversal from trends in the first half of the year when most malware activity was focused on targeting web sites. For the second half of 2009 Websense found a 3.3% decrease in that activity - instead, malware authors are now aiming their efforts on Web 2.0 properties with higher traffic and multiple pages.

The Dangers of User Generated Content

Websense also reported that user-generated content is becoming increasingly dangerous for companies, as these sites are a top target for cybercriminals and spammers. The company estimates that as much as 95% of user-generated comments to blogs, chat rooms and message boards are spam or malicious.

Non-Transparent Inventory

It is the second warning by the internet security community on UGC in recent weeks. AdSafe recently reported that a large portion of user generated content is a significant concern to clients with high sensitivity brands or high sensitivity industries - especially when using ad networks.

According to AdSafe, non-transparent inventory decreased from 58% to 18% of traffic over the course of Q4, with "non-transparent" defined as inventory for which the buyer did not know the exact identity of the webpage on which advertising appeared. However of those inventory flows, 29% was served to sites featuring user-generated content - 27% of which was deemed inappropriate for brand advertisers.

"Given its dynamic nature, UCG inventory has a higher risk profile for brands with valuable brand equity and in high sensitivity verticals," the report says. "Brands' lack of control over UCG content allows for 'off brand' associations which can erode brand equity and / or subject brands in highly regulated industries (such as pharmaceutical) to regulatory infractions."