Beware of livestreaming - it is contaminated!

Truly millions of people all around the globe use Internet not only for reading some information, but still more of them watch a lot of programs via various livestreaming websites. It is typical for sport or cultural events. But do you know that these websites are literally chock-full with various kinds of malware and every day users of these websites risk infections, data thefts or other types of scams?

It is quite obvious that a lot of these websites are not 100% legally correct concerning the streamed content. And a lot of people know this. But, when it comes to our own security when using such websites, we somehow lost our vigilance. But it is mainly the content of these websites which is unseen, which can be really harmful for us. Your computer can be simply infected by some type of malware, or your personal data from your computer can be stolen. And because this really is a serious issue of today´s world, the people from KU Leuven-iMinds and Stony Brook University performed a complex testing.

Their team developed a semi-automated tool for identification of free livestreaming websites (in total more then 23 000) and then performed more than 850 000 visits to the identified domains. Resulting traffic included more than 1 Terabyte of data which were then analyzed. The analysis showed very interesting things and methods how these websites "work" with its users. It is quite typical to use fake buttons which users should use and after clicking on such button, they are exposed to a malware. The experiment proved that 50% of these overlay fake buttons (aka Ads) lead users to malware hosting websites. Usually these users are made believe that they need to install something extra for being able to watch the stream. The approach of these websites is also based on the facts that they target on the most popular web browsers and that they can detect and deactivate eventual ad-blocker extensions. That means that nowadays the most vulnerable browsers are Google Chrome and Safari, but also users of other browsers should be vigilant of course.

The experiment not only proved that it really is important to be secured within the Internet, but the developed tool also helps to fight copyright and trademark violations. So, if you are a fan of football and you are watching matches of EURO 2016 currently taking place, be sure that your computer is protected against malware. If you are not sure, go here and get a solution which will protect you invincibly no matter what websites you visit.