Security vendor McAfee has discovered that over 10,000 web pages were attacked by having hijacking malware. This is known to be one of the largest attacks of this kind. A look into the attack exposed these sites to have a certain type of java script code that silently redirects visitors to other websites that have malware that may install onto a users computer. The malware attempts to break into a user's computer wreaking havoc.
Many times security researches give out the advice to not visit un-trusted sites. This time that advice can be thrown out of the window because trusted sites are known to be in the number for sites that were compromised.
How am I affected by this?
One day you visit a trusted site then the next day you visit the same site and it infects your computer with malware without you knowing about it. This is very scary. We can suggest that you keep all of your software up-to-date while running a recent version of spyware and/or virus protection software to ward off this type of attack.
It seems the vulnerability on some web pages was discovered by hackers from unsecured web servers. This gave the cybercriminals a chance to target mainly online gamers by planting malware on the compromised computers to steal passwords for online games.
The open backdoor is quickly closing as McAfee reported that a number of the 10,000 attacked pages have already been cleaned up. This still leaves some pages out there with a wide open door to infect visitors. It is recommended that you keep a reputable spyware or anti-virus program handy to assist in keeping your computer clean.