via cnet.com

If you worry that the Internet is a scary place full of digital pickpockets and online identity thieves, your fears will be bolstered by the latest Symantec Internet Security Threat Report released Tuesday.

The report finds huge increases in the number of security holes in software and the number of Internet threats, particularly attacks in which browsers are hijacked and forced to download malicious programs as people surf the Web.

Even visiting trusted Web sites isn’t always safe. Most Web-based attacks target visitors to legitimate Web sites that have been compromised and that either serve up malicious content to the visitor or embed a malicious and invisible iframe on the page that surreptitiously redirects the user’s browser to another Web server under an attacker’s control, according to the report.

Attacks are traded in underground channels, with people buying and selling software that automates attacks or even entire botnets of infected computers that serve as spam armies, the report says. Stolen data is then marketed and offered up with price lists and guarantees. Oddly, the price of stolen data remained the same in 2008 despite the fact that the economy took a nose dive, said Zulfikar Ramzan, a technical director at Symantec Security Response.

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“…Tests have shown that a hacker can break into the system, and cybersecurity experts said a massive blackout could result.

If someone hacked into the Smart Grid, experts say it could cause a blackout that stretches across the country.”