Malware slums: Measurement and analysis of malware on traffic exchanges

  • Salman Yousaf
  • , Umar Iqbal
  • , Shehroze Farooqi
  • , Raza Ahmad
  • , Zubair Shafiq
  • , Fareed Zaffar

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionpeer-review

4 Scopus citations

Abstract

Auto-surf and manual-surf traffic exchanges are an increasingly popular way of artificially generating website traffic. Previous research in this area has focused on the makeup, usage, and monetization of underground traffic exchanges. In this paper, we analyze the role of traffic exchanges as a vector for malware propagation. We conduct a measurement study of nine auto-surf and manual-surf traffic exchanges over several months. We present a first of its kind analysis of the different types of malware that are propagated through these traffic exchanges. We find that more than 26% of the URLs surfed on traffic exchanges contain malicious content. We further analyze different categories of malware encountered on traffic exchanges, including blacklisted domains, malicious JavaScript, malicious Flash, and malicious shortened URLs.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationProceedings - 46th Annual IEEE/IFIP International Conference on Dependable Systems and Networks, DSN 2016
PublisherInstitute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc.
Pages572-582
Number of pages11
ISBN (Electronic)9781467388917
DOIs
StatePublished - Sep 29 2016
Event46th IEEE/IFIP International Conference on Dependable Systems and Networks, DSN 2016 - Toulouse, France
Duration: Jun 28 2016Jul 1 2016

Publication series

NameProceedings - 46th Annual IEEE/IFIP International Conference on Dependable Systems and Networks, DSN 2016

Conference

Conference46th IEEE/IFIP International Conference on Dependable Systems and Networks, DSN 2016
Country/TerritoryFrance
CityToulouse
Period06/28/1607/1/16

Keywords

  • Malware
  • Traffic Exchanges

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